Use of 1 mm Cerclage Cables in Surgical Treatment of Periprosthetic Femur Fractures

1 mm cerclage cables have been introduced that can be placed under plates and hold reduction of periprosthetic femur fractures (PPFFx) around total hip arthroplasty (THA). Their utilization remains controversial due to the risk of nonunion secondary to periosteal stripping associated for their application. We compared surgical outcomes in patients with THA PPFFx treated with open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) and cables vs patients with PPFFx treated with ORIF without cables. We hypothesized that cable use would decrease hardware failure and nonunion rates.

We retrospectively reviewed 42 cases of PPFFx around THA performed from 2015 to 2021. Twenty-three PPFFx were treated with plate and 1 mm cerclage cables, and 19 PPFFx were treated with plate without cables. Primary surgical outcomes included hardware failure, nonunion, reoperation, and time to radiographic union.

There was no significant difference in nonunion rates: 9% in the cerclage cable group vs 16% in the plate-only group (P = .64). The average time to union was 6.0 months among 17 observed unions in the cerclage cable group, vs 8.0 months among 15 observed unions in the plate-only group, but this failed to reach significance (P = .12). There was no statistical difference in overall complication rates (13% cerclage vs 16% plate) requiring reoperation (P = 1.0).

The utilization of 1 mm cerclage cables to hold reduction of PPFFx provides an easy method to hold fixation with a low overall complication rate and no significant differences in nonunion rate or time to union when compared to cases performed without cables.