Total hip replacement with or without trochanteric osteotomy.

In a consecutive series of primary total hip replacements (THR) 54 patients were operated upon with and 78 patients without trochanteric osteotomy. Follow-up at least 2.5 years postoperatively failed to disclose any differences between the two groups in bleeding during operation, the incidence of early complications or the infection rate. A longer operation time was noted for the osteotomized group. Mechanical failure was more frequent in the non-osteotomized group. The clinical end result was similar in both groups. In complicated cases or when accessibility to the operation site is poor a trochanteric osteotomy is recommended.