Superior Gluteal Artery-pedicled Iliac Crest for the Treatment of Avascular Necrosis of Femoral Head

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: To evaluate the efficacy of superior gluteal artery-pedicled iliac crest for the treatment of avascular necrosis of femoral head. MATERIAL & METHOD: From January 2001 to October 2001, we used the superior deep branches of superior gluteal artery for the pedicled posterior iliac crest bone graft to revascularize the avascular femoral head in 4 patients. They were 1 man and 3 women, and the mean age of the patients was 34 years (range, 27 to 60). The average follow-up after surgery was over 57 months (range, 15 to 82). We analyzed the clinical results by the Harris hip score, and evaluated the vascularity of the femoral head by radiographic methods. RESULTS: All cases showed no evidence of collapse on femoral heads and good revascularizations on the radiographic images. The average Harris hip score was 88.5 points. There was no complication. CONCLUSION: The revascularization procedure using the superior gluteal artery-pedicled posterior iliac crest was thought to be one of the effective and promising techniques for the treatment of the avascular necrosis of femoral head.