Comparing Outcomes in Cemented and Press-Fit Hemiarthroplasty

Arthroplasty has become the standard of care for displaced femoral neck fractures in the geriatric cohort. However, details regarding optimal implant design and fixation strategy continue to be debated. We sought to determine whether cemented or press-fit hemiarthroplasties were more advantageous in terms of revision surgery, contralateral hip fractures, hospital length of stay, mortality rates, and survival.

All geriatric fragility hip fractures at a level 1 trauma center (2014 to 2019) were retrospectively reviewed for the fracture pattern, fixation methodology, and outcome, yielding 707 femoral neck fractures treated with hemiarthroplasty (309 cemented and 398 press fit). The final follow-up was either date of death or final encounter. Major end points were revision surgery, contralateral fracture, and death. A Z-score test of two proportions was used for dichotomous variables, and a two-tailed t -test was used for continuous variables. Cox proportional hazard was used for revision surgery-free survival between groups, adjusting for age, sex, and American Society of Anesthesiologists status.

Patients who underwent press-fit hemiarthroplasty had a significantly higher rate of revision surgery (7.8% vs 3.9%; P = 0.006). Press-fit cases had a trend toward a decreased risk of contralateral fracture (13% vs 9.8%; P = 0.12), although this did not reach significance. Both groups had similar length of stay ( P = 0.08) and death rates ( P = 0.39). Of those who died, there was a trend toward longer survival in patients who received a press-fit hemiarthroplasty (413 vs 615 days; P < 0.001). There was a trend toward longer survival without repeat surgery in the cemented group without reaching significance (hazard ratio, 0.66 [0.34 to 1.23]; P = 0.201).

In this study, we found a markedly longer survival time after press-fit hemiarthroplasty, which we believe reflects surgeons' tendencies to cement the femoral prosthesis in patients with more comorbidities. However, press-fit hemiarthroplasties were more likely to result in repeat procedures on the same hip. Displaced geriatric femoral neck fractures may benefit from a cemented rather than press-fit hemiarthroplasty.