Hip Resurfacing in Teenagers

The goals of hip resurfacing are to relieve pain, restore function, and preserve future reconstructive options. Hip resurfacing is an attractive and sometimes the only option when the femoral canal is blocked, making total hip arthroplasty (THA) difficult. Hip resurfacing also can be an attractive option for a teenager on the rare occasion when a hip implant is needed.

A cementless ceramic-coated femoral resurfacing implant matched with a highly cross-linked polyethylene acetabular bearing was used in 105 patients (117 hips) aged 12 to 19 years. The mean follow-up was 14 years (range, 5 to 25). No patients were lost to follow-up before 19 years. Osteonecrosis, residuals of trauma, developmental dysplasia, and childhood hip diseases were the common reasons requiring surgery. Patients were evaluated using patient-reported outcomes, patient acceptable symptom states (PASS), and implant survivorships. Radiographs and retrievals were also examined.

There were 2 revisions (polyethylene liner exchange at 12 years and femoral revision for osteonecrosis at 14 years). The mean postoperative Hip Disability Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (HOOS) was 94 points (range, 80 to 100) and the mean Harris Hip Score (HHS) score was 96 points (range, 80 to 100). All patients achieved Minimal Clinically Important Difference improvement in their HHS and HOOS scores. There were 99 (85%) hip resurfacing procedures achieving a satisfactory PASS and 72 (69%) patients were active in sports.

Hip resurfacing is a highly technical procedure. Careful implant selection is required. The meticulous preoperative planning, careful extensile surgical exposure, and exacting implant placement in this study likely contributed to the favorable results achieved. Hip resurfacing allows THA as a future option in patients where the lifetime revision rate is a major consideration.