[Removal of infected alloplasty of the hip joint.]

In 1979 - 1989 at the Orthopaedic Clinic of the Institute for Postgraduate Medical Training a total of 62 alloplasties of the hip joint were removed. On account of infection 44 endoprostheses were removed, the remainder for other reasons. The authors examined a total of 19 patients who attended check-up examinations. Evaluation of the function of the hip joint after removal of the endoprosthesis was made by Harris' method. Evaluation of the painfulness of the hip joint revealed that 6 patients were free from pain, 4 patients reported only slight pain after burdening. The remaining patients suffered from pain which had to be mitigated by analgetics, two patients suffered from constant pain even at rest. Evaluation of the function of the hip joint revealed a marked disorder in all investigated subjects, none of the investigated patients was able to walk without support, walking was impaired by marked limp on the affected extremity. In a general evaluation of the condition of the hip joint according to Harris none of the hip joints after removal of the endoprosthesis were evaluated as excellent, in three patients the result was good, in 4 patients it was satisfactory, in 12 patients the results were unsatisfactory. Key words: removal of an infected total endoprosthesis of the hip joint.