title: The "learning curve" of total hip arthroplasty.
abstract: Total hip arthroplasty (THA) is one of the major breakthroughs in modern orthopedics this century. Since its introduction in the early 1960s by Sir J. Charnley, it has become the most common form of arthroplasty. The art of performing THA has developed to a large extent, yet with the inevitable "price" of a learning curve. The rates of early and late complications reported in the orthopedic literature have been decreasing gradually, along with improved short- and long-term results. We report the results of two similar series of THA performed with an interval of 15 to 20 years, which show that the improvement of the results that form the learning curve of THA at our institution is statistically significant.
authors.affiliation: Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Aviv University, Israel.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salai
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mintz
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Giveon
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chechik
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Horoszowski
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002983:Clinical Competence; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006621:Hip Joint / Q000601:surgery; D006622:Hip Prosthesis; D006801:Humans; D007431:Intraoperative Complications; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011475:Prosthesis Failure