Total hip arthroplasty for the treatment of congenital hip dislocations in adults: about 15 cases

Abstract

Total hip arthroplasty for the treatment of congenital dislocation represents a challenge for the orthopedic surgeon. It is now well established that the treatment of congenital hip dislocation in adults is a real "functional miracle". The evolution of surgical techniques and materials has expanded the indications for prosthetic replacement including the most complex cases and thus going against Charnley and Feagin who wrote in 1973 that there was no place for total hip arthroplasty in inveterate dislocations. We conducted a retrospective study of a series of THP 15 for the treatment of congenital hip dislocation in adults;sociodemographic, clinical, paraclinical and therapeutic data were collected from the medical records of 15 patients and also via a written questionnaire which was completed during their last follow-up visit. The average age of our patients was 28 years; female sex ratio was 2F/1H. Severe dysplasia stage VI according to Crowe’s classification was present in 4 cases, type III in 9 cases and type II only in 2 cases. All patients underwent cemented total hip arthroplasty, a reinforcement ring was used in 9 cases and a bone graft in 2 cases. At last follow-up visit PMA functional scores were excellent and very good in 74% of cases. Surgical treatment of congenital hip dislocations in adults must meet strict health standards as congenital hip dislocations often occurs in young female population that is more demanding as to the aesthetic and functional outcomes. Several surgical techniques have tried to solve the problems related to this disease, acetabular and femoral hypoplasia, leg length inequality. Total hip arthroplasty for the treatment of congenital dislocations in adults remains a challenge for the orthopaedic surgeon. This is a difficult surgical procedure which requires technical skills and careful pre-design programming to reduce the occurrence of adverse events especially in the particular case of young female population.