Abstract
BACKGROUND: Dislocation after primary total hip arthroplasty (THA) has an incidence of 2-3%. Approximately 77% of dislocations occur within the first year after surgery. The SuperPATH technique is a minimally invasive approach for THA that preserves soft tissue attachments. The purpose of this study is to describe the dislocation rate at 1 year after SuperPATH primary THA. METHODS: All elective primary THAs performed by the senior author using the SuperPATH approach. Exclusion criteria were acute femoral neck fracture, revision surgery, or malignancy. There were 214 of 279 eligible patients available for telephone interviews (76.7%). Medical records were reviewed for secondary outcomes including early and late complications, cup positioning, distance ambulated on postoperative day one, discharge destination, and blood transfusions. RESULTS: Mean age at surgery was 64 ± 10.8 years and mean time to telephone follow up was 773 ± 269.7 days. There were 104 female and 110 male patients. There were zero dislocations reported. Blood transfusions were performed in 3.7% of patients, and 75.7% were discharged to home at an average of 2.3 ± 1.0 days. Cup position averaged 43.6 ± 5.2° abduction and 20.9 ± 6.2° anteversion, with an average leg length discrepancy of 3.6 ± 3.32 mm. Complications included three intraoperative calcar fractures, one periprosthetic femur fracture, one early femoral revision, three superficial infections, and one instance of wound necrosis. CONCLUSION: SuperPATH approach is safe for use in primary THA resulting in a low dislocation rate.