The effect of core decompression on femoral head blood flow in steroid-induced avascular necrosis of the femoral head.

Previous reports from this and other laboratories have shown that the histological changes in the femoral head that are associated with steroid treatment are consistent with avascular necrosis of the femoral head. In this experiment, we studied the effect of core decompression on femoral head blood flow in steroid-treated rabbits using the microsphere technique. The results showed that there was a gradual decline of femoral head blood flow in animals that received weekly injections of methylprednisolone without core decompression. The femoral head blood flow in animals that underwent core decompression after six weeks of steroid treatment showed a gradual normalization within four weeks after core decompression.