Rare fracture of a total hip replacement.
Material fractures in the femoral part of total hip replacements, a late complication, are usually observed in the shaft. In our case, a fatigue fracture of the ball-neck weld occurred 8 1/2 years after implantation of the prosthesis because of insufficient weld depth. Additional negative factors proved to be varus implantation and overloading of the prosthesis due to obesity. The weld represented a point of low resistance. Even if major traumatic events are responsible for the fracture or loosening of an endoprosthesis, overloading (i.e., multiple "microtrauma") is also an important contributing factor.
D000368:Aged; D001835:Body Weight; D005260:Female; D006620:Hip Fractures / Q000209:etiology*; D006622:Hip Prosthesis / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans