Charnley low-friction arthroplasty for the treatment of hips with late complications of femoral neck fractures.

Two hundred five Charnley low-friction arthroplasties (LFA) were performed in 205 patients for late complications of femoral neck fractures. LFA was an excellent procedure for relieving pain and restoring function with a good range of movement. The deep infection rate was 3.9%. A detailed analysis of the patients with infection showed a high incidence of previous superficial wound infection or positive bacteriologic culture swabs obtained from the wound at the time of LFA.