title: Technical considerations in difficult primary total hip arthroplasty.
abstract: Total joint replacement has become one of the more common orthopaedic operations, with approximately 240,000 major joint arthroplasties performed annually in the United States, a large percentage of these being of the hip. The vast majority of hip replacements are for the diagnosis of degenerative arthritis and are performed in patients greater than 60 years of age. Less commonly the procedure is performed for other diagnoses (eg, developmental disorders of the hip, inflammatory arthritis, and post-traumatic arthritis) and in younger patients. Each of these diagnoses are associated with unique characteristics posing an array of technical challenges for the surgeon. The purpose of this manuscript is to highlight the more common of these processes with emphasis on the technical difficulties encountered when reconstructing these hips.
authors.affiliation: Resident, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE.
authors.forename: E T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Otterberg
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Garvin