Total Hip Arthroplasty in Patients who had Previous Infection of the Hip with LegLength Discrepancy

Purpose : To analyze the results of a minimum of three-year follow-up in patients with a severely deformed sequelae pyogenic hip, who had undergone total hip arthroplasty with a simultaneous limb length correction. Materials and Methods : The postoperative complication, clinical and the radiographic results were analyzed in 74 out of 102 patients, who were followed for a minimum of three years between December 1987 and May 2003. The average age was 42.8 years. The average follow-up duration was 4 years and 11 months. There were 50 tuberculosis infections, 24 pyogenic infections, and 23 fused hip cases. The average leg length shortening was 4.1 cm (range, 1.0-10.0 cm). Results: Preoperative Harris hip score improved to 90.2 postoperatively from 65.0 (range, 25-92.5) preoperatively. Leg length shortening was corrected by 0.4 cm (0.0-3.0 cm). Radiographically, excluding the 3 revisions, no case met the criteria of definite loosening. The postoperative complications included the recurrence of tuberculosis (2 cases), and variable nerve palsies, including femoral nerve (3 cases), and a sciatic nerve (3 cases). These patients completely recovered from nerve palsy. B-K amputation, after the postoperative exacerbation of circulation to the affected limb, was needed in one case with a preoperatively undetected femoral artery occlusion. Conclusion : Although, restoring the normal limb length in the severely deformed pyogenic hip sequelae patients requires highly demanding surgical techniques, with a relatively higher incidence of postoperative complications, it is possible to achieve a higher level of patient satisfaction and definite gait improvement.