Acetabular bone grafting in primary total hip arthroplasty]

A group of 108 hips in 102 patients (81 females and 21 males; average age: 66.9 years) operated at our Centre between 1989 and 1998 was evaluated. There were 76 hips with idiopathic arthritis, 21 hips with rheumatoid arthritis, 2 hips with post-traumatic lesions and 9 cases of dysplastic arthritis of the hip. Cemented total hip arthroplasty was performed in all cases (62 Weller prostheses, 28 Charnley prostheses, 12 Ultima-Straight prostheses and 6 Centrament prostheses). In the presented material three different kinds of bone grafting were performed: "impaction bone grafting" with autogenous cancellous bone grafts in cases of bone cysts and cavitary lesions (57 cases); augmentation of thin sclerotic or protrusive acetabulums with autogenous cancellous bone grafts with or without allogenous cancellous bone grafts (26 and 16 cases respectively); and reconstruction of the roof of the acetabulum with autogenic cortico-cancellous bone grafts 9 cases). In 17% cases autogenous and allogenous bone grafts were used simultaneously and in 83% autogenous bone grafts only were employed. Acetabular bone grafting was necessary to create proper bone substrate for endoprostheses implantation. Evaluation of results was based on criteria proposed by a joint committee of The Hip Society, SICOT and AAOS. A mean of 83.5% points were achieved in the Harris Hip Score. Aseptic loosening was observed in 15 sockets and 9 stems. Bone grafts didn't heal in 25 hips, of which 14 had loose sockets. These results are comparable to those in primary total hip arthroplasties without acetabular bone grafting. The results in the presented paper support the opinion that acetabular bone grafting is a useful tool in reconstructive surgery of the hip and allows to achieve good results in technically difficult acetabuli.