Abstract
BACKGROUND: We hypothesized the risk of prosthetic instability would be similar in patients treated for femoral neck fracture (FNF) comparatively to patients treated for osteoarthritis (OA) using a dual-mobility cup-total hip arthroplasty (DMC-THA). METHODS: One hundred and nine patients (109 hips), with a mean age of 69.6 ± 3 years (65-75 years), underwent DMC-THA using a posterolateral approach for a FNF (study group). Patients were matched for age and sex with 109 OA patients treated by the same procedure (control). RESULTS: Postoperatively, there were four dislocations of the large articulation in the study group, and none in the control (p = 0.12). Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) was the most common surgical complication and was more frequent in the study group. Postoperatively, functional results were at least good in > 90% patients in both groups. At the last follow-up, patients in the study group had recovered autonomy and physical activity comparable to those of the preoperative period. CONCLUSION: We found no increased risk of dislocation after DMC-THA using a posterolateral approach for FNF as compared to the same procedure for OA. In this study, function and independence were restored postoperatively in the vast majority of patients. DMC-THA appears as a viable therapeutic option in autonomous patients with a displaced FNF.