Endoprostheses last longer than intramedullary devices in proximal femur metastases.

BACKGROUND: The proximal femur is the most common site of surgery for bone metastases, and stabilization may be achieved through intramedullary fixation (IMN) or endoprosthetic reconstruction (EPR). Intramedullary devices are less expensive, less invasive, and may yield improved function over endoprostheses. However, it is unclear which, if either, has any advantages. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: We determined whether function, complications, and survivorship differed between the two approaches. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 158 patients with 159 proximal femur metastatic lesions treated with surgical stabilization. Forty-six were stabilized with IMN and 113 were treated with EPR. The minimum followup was 0.25 months (mean, 16 months; median, 17 months; range, 0.25-86 months). RESULTS: The mean Musculoskeletal Tumor Society score was 24 of 30 (80%) after IMN and 21 of 30 (70%) after EPR. There were 12 complications (26%) in the IMN group, including 10 nonunions, six of which went on to mechanical failure. There were complications in 20 of 113 (18%) of the EPR group, which consisted of 10 dislocations (9%) and 10 infections (9%). There were no mechanical failures with EPR. Both implants remained functional for the limited lifespan of these patients in each group at all time intervals. EPRs were associated with increased implant longevity compared with IMNs (100% versus 85% 5-year survival, respectively) and a decreased rate of mechanical failure (0% versus 11%, respectively) when compared with the intramedullary devices. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with metastatic disease to the proximal femur may live for long periods of time, and these patients may undergo stabilization with either IMN or EPR with comparable functional scores and the implant survivorship exceeding patient survivorship at all time intervals. Endoprostheses demonstrate a lower mechanical failure rate and a higher rate of implant survivorship without mechanical failure than IMN devices. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III, therapeutic study. See Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Improved survivorship of hybrid metal-on-metal hip resurfacing with second-generation techniques for Crowe-I and II developmental dysplasia of the hip.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of improved femoral fixation techniques on the survivorship of metal-on-metal total hip resurfacing prostheses in patients with developmental dysplasia of the hip and to report the long-term results of our patients managed earlier with first-generation fixation techniques. METHODS: One hundred and three hips (ninety patients) were resurfaced for osteoarthritis secondary to developmental dysplasia. The mean age of the patients was forty-seven years, and 77% were women. Most hips (94%) were Crowe class I, but 43% had femoral head defects of >1 cm in size. The clinical results of these hips were compared with those of a group of patients with other etiologies, largely dominated by idiopathic osteoarthritis (78%). RESULTS: All clinical scores improved significantly (p < 0.0001) and were comparable with those of patients with other etiologies except for the postoperative activity scores, which were lower (7.0 compared with 7.5). Range of motion was greater for the patients with dysplasia than for the patients with other etiologies. Seven hips that were resurfaced with the first-generation femoral fixation techniques and one hip that was resurfaced with the second and third-generation techniques had conversion to total hip arthroplasty. This difference was found to be significant (p = 0.032) in a multivariate, time-dependent analysis after adjustment for other covariates known to affect prosthetic survival. There was no loosening of the acetabular component in this series. CONCLUSIONS: The current improvements in the short-term to midterm results after resurfacing in patients with developmental dysplasia of the hip in whom more current techniques were used are encouraging and allow for greater expectations regarding the elimination of short-term failures and improved long-term durability of resurfacing in this population.