title: Short stems in total hip replacement: current status and future.
abstract: Short stem hip implants have been introduced as a bone preserving surgery for younger and more active people undergoing hip arthroplasty. Although many short stems are now available, clinical results and long-term survival are controversial. The aim of this paper is to describe the features of the short stems and to analyse their clinical results and long-term survival. The short-stem implants reproduce a stress distribution at the level of the proximal femur more similar to the physiological femur limiting the stress-shielding that occur with conventional cementless stems. Though short stems are an alternative to conventional stems, their use is not yet justified despite the promising short and mid-term survival results. Higher incidence of complications, such as periprosthetic fractures and malpositioning of the stem, and the lack of long-term results do not allow to predict what role in the future short stems in total hip replacement may have.
authors: Department of Orthopaedics and Trauma, Hospital Pope John XXIII, Bergamo - Italy.
authors: Claudio C
authors: CC
authors: Castelli
authors: Luigi
authors: L
authors: Rizzi
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D019644:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005269:Femur / Q000601:surgery; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005544:Forecasting; D006621:Hip Joint / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D006622:Hip Prosthesis / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020380:Needs Assessment; D057068:Periprosthetic Fractures / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D011859:Radiography; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D016896:Treatment Outcome