Cemented femoral stems in patients with DDH.
Total hip arthroplasty is the procedure of choice for most adult patients with symptomatic arthrosis secondary to developmental dysplasia (DDH), but it requires complex reconstructive techniques, is usually performed in young patients, and has an increased risk of complications. THA is indicated in presence of severe pain and when osteotomy is contraindicated. The complexity of surgery is related to the degree of dysplasia. Anatomic abnormalities in the acetabulum and femur are the cause of the complexity and complications of this procedure. Acetabular bone deficiency requires reconstructive techniques before implanting the cup at the anatomic acetabular location, such as bone autograft augmentation, implanting the cup at higher level of the hip center and cup medialization. Femoral shortening and special cemented or uncemented stems are currently used to avoid intraoperative complications. While a cemented stem needs metaphyseal femoral shortening, subtrochanteric shortening requires a cementless stem. Because of these patients' age, alternative bearing surfaces, such as alumina-on-alumina couples are recommended when possible. Although the long-term results of total hip arthroplasty in DDH are inferior to those in a general population, the results show a high level of pain relief and functional improvement.
Garcia-Cimbrelo
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Orthopaedic Surgery, Service A, Hospital La Paz, Madrid, Spain. gcimbrelo@yahoo.es