SURVIVORSHIP ANALYSIS AND RADIOGRAPHIC OUTCOME FOLLOWING TANTALUM ROD INSERTION FOR OSTEONECROSIS OF THE FEMORAL HEAD

Abstract

BACKGROUND: For early stages of osteonecrosis, preservation of the femoral head is the primary objective; however, there has not been a consensus on how best to achieve this goal. Core decompression alone is associated with a lack of structural support with inconsistent outcomes, whereas vascularized fibular grafting requires an extensive surgical procedure with high donor-site morbidity and prolonged rehabilitation. The adjunctive use of a porous tantalum implant offers the advantages of core decompression, structural support, minimally invasive surgery, and no donor-site morbidity. The purpose of this study was to assess the survivorship and to evaluate the clinical results and radiographic outcomes of hips in which osteonecrosis of the femoral head was treated with core decompression and a porous tantalum implant. METHODS: We evaluated fifty-four patients (sixty consecutive hips) in whom osteonecrosis of the femoral head was treated with core decompression and insertion of a porous tantalum implant. Fifty-two patients (fifty-eight hips) were available for follow-up at a mean of twenty-four months. All patients were sixty-five years of age or younger (mean age, thirty-five years). According to the classification system of Steinberg et al., one hip (2%) had stage-I disease, forty-nine hips (84%) had stage-II disease, and eight hips (14%) had stage-III disease. Outcome measures that were used included a limb-specific score (Harris hip score), radiographic outcome measures, an…