Role of Chiari osteotomy in treating degenerative hip arthritis: A review

Chiari pelvic osteotomy (CPO) or medial displacement pelvic osteotomy is a surgical procedure of making a congruent shelf above intact hip joint by using the cancellous bone of ilium along with capsular interpositioning to contain the femoral head and bear weight. CPO is usually considered a salvage procedure indicated in patients with dysplastic acetabular sockets as a part of developmental hip dysplasia. It has been widely performed for several decades but since 1990s number of CPO procedures has decreased because of use of other pelvic osteotomies, total hip arthroplasty (THA), ultrasound screening and narrowing indications for this procedure. However, CPO is not a historical procedure and it has viable indications in modern orthopaedic surgery, especially in patients who prefer joint-conservating procedure or in situations when THA is not feasible. Moreover, keeping the native hip as long as possible should be preferred modern orthopaedic approach. The Chiari osteotomy can produce excellent results in patients who have right indications and when other procedures are not suitable. On the other hand, there are several disadvantages of this procedure such as narrowing of the pelvis, shortening of the limb and risk of sciatic nerve palsy. With in-depth analysis of literature, we discuss indications for CPO, surgical technique of CPO, THA conversion rate after CPO, the interval from the CPO to THA and CPO survival rate.