The role of proximal femoral support in stress development within hip prostheses

Bone remodeling commonly associated with implant loosening may require revision total hip replacement when there is substantial proximal femoral bone loss. Additionally, the surgical exposure required to remove primary implants may alter the proximal femur's structure. As a result, in many revision hip situations the proximal femur provides compromised support for the revision femoral component. Stress analyses of the proximal femur with extensively porous-coated prosthetic femoral components show that proximomedial femoral bone loss, ununited femoral osteotomy, and periprosthetic fracture can result in significant elevation of stress within revision prosthetic components. The first principal stress within prosthetic components can, in proximal bone loss conditions, be elevated significantly above a revision prostheses' fatigue strength. Loss of proximomedial bone is predicted to increase stress within a revision component by as much as 82%. An unhealed transverse femoral fracture or osteotomy is predicted to more than double the stress within a revision femoral component. In revision total hip replacement, efforts directed toward the restoration of proximal femoral bone and the use of larger prostheses may contribute to avoiding prostheses fatigue fracture. Similarly, protected weightbearing in patients with ununited femoral osteotomies and periprosthetic fractures may be important to preventing prosthetic fracture.