A Technique for Difficult Intraoperative Dislocation of Hip Prosthesis in Revision Total Hip Arthroplasty

There are instances where a patient's prosthetic hip is unable to be dislocated intraoperatively during a conversion or revision arthroplasty, despite scar removal and standard dislocation maneuvers. We describe a technique that involves an in situ disassociation of the femoral head component from the trunnion without the need for additional osteotomies. This maneuver may be beneficial in cases of protrusio, muscular stiffness, high soft tissue tension, arthrofibrosis, and ankylosis due to heterotopic ossification, as well as cases that involve a large femoral head or acetabular constraint. We also present a case of a 61-year-old male with a chronic prosthetic hip infection who underwent a two-stage revision surgery where this technique was utilized.