Background and purposeCemented hemiarthroplasty is preferred in treating displaced fractures of the femoral neck in the elderly. The cementing process may cause a fat embolism, leading to serious complications or death. In this study, we wanted to determine whether use of uncemented hemiarthroplasty (HA) would lead to reduced mortality and whether there are differences in the complications associated with these different types of arthroplasty.Patients and methodsFrom the PERFECT database, which combines information from various treatment registries, we identified 25,174 patients who were treated with hemiarthroplasty for a femoral neck fracture in the years 1999–2009. The primary outcome was mortality. Secondary outcomes were reoperations, complications, re-admissions, and treatment times.ResultsMortality was lower in the first postoperative days when uncemented HA was used. At 1 week, there was no significant difference in mortality (3.9% for cemented HA and 3.4% for uncemented HA; p = 0.09). This was also true after one year (26% for cemented HA and 27% for uncemented HA; p = 0.1). In patients treated with uncemented HA, there were significantly more mechanical complications (3.7% vs. 2.8%; p < 0.001), hip re-arthroplasties (1.7% vs. 0.95; p < 0.001), and femoral fracture operations (1.2% vs. 0.52%; p < 0.001) during the first 90 days after hip fracture surgery.InterpretationFrom registry data, mortality appears to be similar for cemented and uncemented HA. However, uncemented HA is associated with more frequent mechanical complications and reoperations.
Background and Aims: Both cemented and uncemented hemiarthroplasties are acceptable methods for treating displaced femoral neck fractures. Cemented hemiarthroplasty has traditionally been recommended as being more safe and reliable. However, the cementing process carries a risk of fat embolism and cardiovascular problems. This study attempted to determine whether these complications can be avoided when using a modern uncemented stem.
Material and Methods:We retrospectively compared 222 hip fracture patients treated with hemiarthroplasty in our hospital. A total of 100 of these patients were treated with a hydroxyapatite-coated uncemented hemiendoprosthesis (Bi-Metric BFx) and 122 patients with a cemented hemiendoprosthesis (Lubinus SPII). Information on mortality and complications during the first 18.7 months was retrieved from patient files.Results and Conclusions: Nine perioperative fat-embolic events were found in the cemented group and none in the uncemented group. During the initial hospital treatment, there were five deaths (4.1%) in the cemented group and one death (1%) in the uncemented group. There were significantly more perioperative fractures in the uncemented versus cemented group (7% versus 0.8%). We conclude that uncemented hemiarthroplasty is associated with more perioperative fractures than cemented hemiarthroplasty. However, perioperative cardiovascular disturbances may be less frequent with uncemented hemiarthroplasty, and early mortality may be lower with uncemented hemiarthroplasty.
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