Hip resurfacing femoral neck fracture influenced by valgus placement

Femoral neck fracture is the most common short-term concern after hip resurfacing arthroplasty. Currently, there is little basis to decide between neutral and valgus placement. We loaded 10 notched cadaveric femur pairs to failure; one side was implanted at 0 degrees relative to the femoral neck and the other at 10 degrees valgus. All 20 were dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry-scanned. Failure load correlated with bone mineral density. Valgus placement increased the fracture load by an average of 28% over neutral for specimens with normal bone mineral density but had no effect on fracture load in specimens with low bone mineral density. For specimens with normal bone mineral density (typical of patients undergoing resurfacing arthroplasty), neutral-valgus placement had a greater effect than bone mineral density, explaining 54% of the fracture load variance. Component placement greater than 10 degrees valgus is likely undesirable because this can lead to an increase in component size and a greater likelihood of notching. To reduce fracture risk, we recommend placing the femoral component in valgus and selecting patients with higher bone mineral density.