Outcome after tantalum rod implantation for treatment of femoral head osteonecrosis: 26 hips followed for an average of 3 years

Background and purpose Tantalum rod implantation has recently been proposed for treatment of early stages of femoral head osteonecrosis. The purpose of our study was to report the early results of its use in pre- and post-collapse stages of the disease

Vascularized compared with nonvascularized fibular grafting for the treatment of osteonecrosis of the femoral head

Background: We are not aware of any clinical studies in the literature comparing the results of vascularized and non- vascularized fibular grafting for the treatment of osteonecrosis of the femoral head. The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical results of free vascularized fibular grafting with those of nonvascularized fibular grafting. Methods: Two hundred patients (220 hips) with osteonecrosis of the femoral head were treated with free vascularized fibular grafting at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and ninety-nine patients (123 hips) were treated with nonvascularized fibular grafting at the Kyungpook National University Hospital in Korea. From these populations, two groups of fifty hips each, followed for a minimum of three years (average, five years), were matched by the stage, size, and etiology of the lesion and by the mean preoperative Harris hip score. A retrospective case-control study of these groups was then performed to compare the postoperative Harris hip scores as well as the prevalences of radiographic progression and collapse of the femoral head following free vascularized fibular grafting with those measures following nonvascularized fibular grafting. Results: The mean Harris hip score improved for 70% of the hips treated with free vascularized fibular grafting: seventeen hips (34%) were rated excellent, fourteen (28%) were rated good, nine (18%) were rated fair, and ten (20%) were rated poor. The mean Harris hip score improved for 36% of the hips treated with nonvascularized fibular grafting: five hips (10%) were rated excellent; nine (18%), good; sixteen (32%), fair; and twenty (40%), poor. The rate of survival at seven years for the Stage-I and II hips (precollapse) was 86% after treatment with free vascularized fibular grafting compared with 30% after nonvascularized fibular grafting. Conclusions: The results of this study strongly suggest that vascularized fibular grafting is associated with better clinical and radiographic results. Level of Evidence: Therapeutic study, Level III-2 (retrospective cohort study). See Instructions to Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence

Fast sequences MR imaging at the investigation of painful skeletal sites in patients with hip osteonecrosis

Background: Multiple osteonecrotic foci can be clinically silent when located in metaphyses and becomes painful when it affects juxta-articular areas. The purpose of this study was to assess the value of fast MR imaging to depict the underlying pathology in cases with skeletal pain other than the already diagnosed hip osteonecrosis. Methods/design: Between 2008 and 2013, 49 patients with already diagnosed hip osteonecrosis reported symptoms of deep skeletal pain in an anatomical site different from the affected hip joint. All patients after thorough history & clinical examination underwent evaluation with x-rays and a single fat suppressed sequence with MR Imaging applying either T2-w TSE or STIR-TSE at the painful site. False positive and false negative findings were recorded for the conventional x-rays and compared to MRI. Discussion: Forty four (89.8%) patients were positive for osteonecrotic lesions in this study and 76 symptomatic osteonecrosis lesions were revealed at 14 distinct anatomic sites. The agreement between the x-ray findings and the MR imaging regarding osteonecrosis was 46.9%. Plain x-rays showed 43.4% sensitivity, 100% specificity, 100% positive predictive value and 10.4% negative predictive value. Fast MR imaging with fat suppressed sequences is necessary and adequate as a single method for the investigation of painful skeletal sites in patients with already diagnosed hip osteonecrosis. It allows early diagnosis of the potentially debilitating multiple juxta-articular lesions and consequently their prompt management

Nonvascularized Bone Grafting Defers Joint Arthroplasty in Hip Osteonecrosis

A variety of nonvascularized bone grafting techniques have been proposed with varying degrees of success as treatment alternatives for osteonecrosis of the femoral head. The success of these procedures may be enhanced using ancillary growth and differentiation factors. We retrospectively reviewed 33 patients (39 hips) with osteonecrosis of the hip who had nonvascularized bone grafting procedures with supplemental OP-1. We compared the outcomes in this cohort to similar patients treated nonoperatively or with other nonvascularized bone grafting procedures. We used a trapdoor to make a window at the head-neck junction to remove necrotic bone and packed the excavated area with autogenous cancellous bone graft, marrow, and OP-1. The minimum followup was 24 months (mean, 36 months; range, 24–50 months). We performed no further surgery in 25 of 30 small- and medium-sized lesions (80%) but did in two of nine large lesions. Hips with Ficat Stage II disease were not reoperated in 18 of 22 cases during the followup periods. Our short-term results compare similarly to nonoperative treatment and other reports of nonvascularized bone grafting. With the addition of ancillary growth factors, these procedures effectively reduce donor site morbidity and may defer joint arthroplasty in selected patients

Do Modern Techniques Improve Core Decompression Outcomes for Hip Osteonecrosis?

Core decompression procedures have been used in osteonecrosis of the femoral head to attempt to delay the joint destruction that may necessitate hip arthroplasty. The efficacy of core decompressions has been variable with many variations of technique described. To determine whether the efficacy of this procedure has improved during the last 15 years using modern techniques, we compared recently reported radiographic and clinical success rates to results of surgeries performed before 1992. Additionally, we evaluated the outcomes of our cohort of 52 patients (79 hips) who were treated with multiple small-diameter drillings. There was a decrease in the proportion of patients undergoing additional surgeries and an increase in radiographic success when comparing pre-1992 results to patients treated in the last 15 years. However, there were fewer Stage III hips in the more recent reports, suggesting that patient selection was an important reason for this improvement. The results of the small-diameter drilling cohort were similar to other recent reports. Patients who had small lesions and were Ficat Stage I had the best results with 79% showing no radiographic progression. Our study confirms core decompression is a safe and effective procedure for treating early stage femoral head osteonecrosis