[Follow-up study on triple-cup arthroplasty of osteoarthritis of the hip]

Although various operative methods have been applied to relatively young patients with osteoarthritis of the hip, none of them has provided fully satisfactory results. Since 1974 we have been performing triple-cup arthroplasty on these patients. In this paper, the design, operative procedures and postoperative management are described, and the clinical results evaluated by the rating score system set by the Japanese Orthopaedic Association are reported. There were 67 patients consisting of 64 women and 3 men. Their ages ranged from 24 to 72 years (mean 43.5 y). The period of postoperative follow-up ranged from one year to 8.5 years (mean 4.7 y) and revealed high scores in 71% but gradual declination in 29% during five years postoperatively. The main cause of the poor results was thought to be migration of the outer cup leading to recurrence of the hip joint pain.