Creation of a femoral cortical window to facilitate total hip arthroplasty in patients with sickle cell hemoglobinopathies.

Patients with sickle cell hemoglobinopathies often have femoral head osteonecrosis with collapse, and can benefit greatly from total hip arthroplasty. However, numerous procedural challenges and perioperative complications make these cases difficult. More specifically, femoral canal preparation and proper component placement can be particularly challenging due to focal medullary sclerosis caused by repeated vascular insults to the bone. This study describes the creation of an anterior metaphyseal cortical bone window to aid in identification of the true femoral canal and to facilitate femoral component implantation.