Long-Term (up to 38 Years) Failure Modes of Total Hip Arthroplasty in Adult Patients Who Had Childhood Infection of Hip

BackgroundThe long-term failure modes of total hip arthroplasty (THA) in adult patients who had childhood infection have not been documented. The purpose of this study is to analyze the longer term clinical and radiographic results, prevalence of osteolysis, and survival rate of THA.MethodsWe reviewed the results of 142 patients (145 hips) (mean age 41.9 years). The age of the patients at the time that the infection was contracted was an average of 7.1 years (range 1-11). The average interval between active infection and THA was 34.5 years. All but 2 hips (1 patient) had a quiescent period of infection of more than 10 years. The average duration of follow-up after THA was 31.5 years (range 25-38).ResultsAll but 2 hips with more than 10 years of quiescent infection had no recurrence of infection. The remaining 2 hips in the 1 patient with only 7 years of quiescent infection had a recurrence of infection. Seventy-eight of 145 hips (54%) underwent isolated cup revision for loosening, or osteolysis, or dislocation. Thirty (21%) femoral components were revised for aseptic loosening and/or osteolysis. The Kaplan-Meier survivorship curve at 31.5 years showed that the survival rate of the acetabular component was 46% (95% confidence interval 39-74) and that of the femoral component was 79% (95% confidence interval 73-89).ConclusionContributing factors to the high failure rate of THAs were less than optimal prostheses and poor quality of polyethylene during the time period of this study.