Clinical and radiological outcomes of an uncemented metaphyseal short stem at minimum 10 years of follow-up: a prospective observational study.

PURPOSE

There is growing interest around short stems as they provide a less invasive approach for total hip arthroplasty preserving bone stock for a possible revision surgery if required. The main purpose of this work was to assess the long-term performance of an uncemented metaphyseal short stem in terms of survival rate and in addition its clinical and radiological outcomes.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

From January to December 2010, we prospectively enrolled all consecutive patients undergoing primary total hip arthroplasty with an uncemented metaphyseal short stem in our institution with a minimum follow-up of 10 years. The radiographic features investigated were the varus-valgus stem orientation, areas of osteolysis and radiolucencies, stress shielding, and heterotopic calcifications. The clinical outcomes were measured using the HHS.

RESULTS

A total of 163 patients (172 hips) were finally included and the measured survival rate at 10 years was 99.6%. The average HHS increased from 55.0 preoperatively to 97.8 at the last follow-up (p < 0.0001). Among them, 137 patients (164 hips) were also available for radiographic assessment. Mild varus malalignment was observed in 40% of cases and remained stable in the serial X-rays and was not associated with step loosening. Mild stress shielding was observed around 13 stems (9%) and moderate only around 3 implants.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the uncemented metaphyseal short stems showed excellent survival and clinical results at 10 years and at a radiographical level very low stress shielding was observed; moreover, besides the high frequency of varus alignment the implanted stems was not associated with revision surgery or with worse clinical outcomes.