Femoral osteotomy for secondary arthritis of the hip in young adults.

Osteotomy around the hip is a valuable and important treatment option in hip disease. It may be used on either side of the joint or in a combined fashion. The authors review the scientific background to femoral osteotomy and summarize its role in the treatment of developmental dysplasia, nonunion of femoral neck fractures, osteonecrosis, slipped capital femoral epiphysis and Perthes disease. They conclude that it is a most useful tool for the contemporary hip surgeon. The procedure may not be appropriate for elderly patients with arthritic deterioration of the hip, but in carefully selected young adults with clearly defined antecedent developmental conditions, the results can be excellent and long lasting. Careful preoperative planning is emphasized; particular attention must be paid to the possibility of arthroplasty in the future because insertion of the stem of a hip prosthesis can be a problem difficult.