[Is implantation of a unipolar femoral endoprosthesis obsolete?]

The authors are presenting a retrospective study of the long-term results of 702 femoral cephalic endoprostheses (451 unipolar and 251 bipolar prostheses). The mean age of the patients at operation was 80.1, in the majority of the cases the indication was a fracture of the femoral neck. The average follow-up was 33 months for the unipolar, and 24 months for the bipolar prostheses. The rate of reoperations is similar in both series, but the rate of dislocations is slightly lower for the unipolar prostheses. 82 patients (out of 120 surviving) have been controlled with an average follow-up of 6.51 and 4.76 years. The unipolar prostheses have a lower average New Mayo Hip Score (58.5 vs. 68.2). Radiologically, there are 7 acetabular protrusions in the group of unipolar prostheses and none in the other group. If both types of prostheses have their place in surgery of the hip, the authors recommend to implant bipolar prostheses in younger and more active patients, where a survival of many years is expected.