Late complications after total hip replacement in renal allograft recipients

Seventy nine hips in 53 recipients of renal allografts were treated by cemented total hip replacement for avascular necrosis of the femoral head between 1972 and 1992. Eight hips in 6 patients required revision for aseptic loosening after a mean of 11.2 years. Three replacements in 3 patients became infected with salmonella enteritidis after a mean of 6.2 years. One was revised, one had a disarticulation of the hip, and the third was treated with long term antibiotics. Survivorship analysis for total hip replacement and the renal allografts showed a hip reoperation rate of 9.9% at 10 years and 54.6% at 15 years with mortality rates of 32.2% and 42.2% respectively. Thus patients surviving 15 years are at a higher risk of failure of the prostheses than of dying.