Primary total hip arthroplasty with use of the modular S-ROM prosthesis. Four to seven-year clinical and radiographic results.

BACKGROUND A multicenter retrospective study was conducted to determine the clinical and radiographic results of primary total hip arthroplasty with insertion of the S-ROM modular femoral stem without cement in a series of patients who had been followed for four to seven years. Four centers participated in the study, with one contributing surgeon at each center. METHODS Two hundred and eight consecutive patients who had a total hip arthroplasty with implantation of the S-ROM femoral prosthesis at one of the four centers during the study period were identified. Twenty-nine patients were lost to follow-up or had incomplete radiographic data, and twenty patients died from causes unrelated to the index arthroplasty. The remaining 159 patients formed the basis of this study. Sixteen of these patients had a bilateral procedure, resulting in 175 hips with complete clinical and radiographic data. The average age of the patients at the time of the index operation was fifty-nine years (range, twenty-two to ninety-three years). The duration of clinical follow-up averaged 5.3 years (range, four to 7.8 years), and the duration of radiographic follow-up averaged 4.9 years (range, four to 7.3 years). RESULTS One patient (0.6 percent) had a failed femoral component, which was evidenced by progressive subsidence and lack of bone ingrowth. In addition, two patients (1 percent) had a revision of the acetabular component. The average Harris hip score increased from 35 points (range, 10 to 76 points) preoperatively to 91 points (range, 52 to 100 points) at the most recent follow-up examination. The radiographic evaluation revealed that 172 hips (98 percent) had stable bone ingrowth, two hips (1 percent) had stable fibrous ingrowth, and one hip (0.6 percent) had unstable fibrous ingrowth. Periprosthetic osteolytic lesions were noted in twelve hips (7 percent). The lesions were observed in the femur in eight hips, in the acetabulum in two hips, and in both the femur and the acetabulum in two hips. All femoral osteolytic lesions were localized within the greater trochanter or the proximal-medial portion of the femoral neck. No osteolytic lesions were evident distal to the stem-sleeve junction. CONCLUSIONS Use of the modular S-ROM femoral prosthesis yielded excellent intermediate-term outcomes with respect to standard radiographic and clinical criteria. The issue regarding the theoretical increase in the rate of osteolysis due to metal debris generated at the modular femoral stem-sleeve junction was specifically addressed. We found that the rate of osteolysis in this series was not notably higher than that in other series reported in the orthopaedic literature. Although many possible factors may influence the rate of osteolysis in total hip arthroplasty, this finding suggests that the potential increase in osteolysis theoretically associated with this modular femoral implant was not observed at intermediate-term follow-up. Although longer follow-up is warranted so that the potential for osteolysis can be evaluated fully, no osteolytic lesions were evident distal to the stem-sleeve interface at the time of intermediate-term follow-up. This finding suggests that there is a circumferential seal at the modular junction of the stem that prevents the distal egress of wear debris.