[Demineralised cortical bone allografting in femoral head necrosis]

We report the clinical and biological results of the surgical treatment of a femoral head osteonecrosis, Ficat classification stage III, in a 53 year old patient. The procedure included core decompression followed by insertion of a superficial demineralised and processed fibular bone allograft. A cemented total hip arthroplasty was performed at nine years follow-up. The histomorphological study of the excised femoral head showed the incorporation of the bone allograft. Although core decompression of the femoral head has been used in precollapse lesions, Ficat stage I and II, its combination with fibular allografting allowed the postponement of total hip prosthesis implantation for nine years. In this clinical case, the implantation of a total hip arthroplasty, as a primary surgical treatment, would also have been an alternative procedure, if it had only been considered the patient;s age and osteonecrosis extension.