In Reply

Abstract

We would like to thank Dr Chiu and colleagues for their insightful comments regarding our article in The Journal of Arthroplasty (ER Henderson, JM Jennings, GA Marulanda, BT Palumbo, D Cheong, GD Letson: Purse-String Capsule Repair to Reduce Proximal Femoral Replacement Dislocation for Tumor—A Novel Technique With Results) and congratulate them on their excellent results with a similar technique. They have raised a point that should be elaborated.Dr Bickels and colleagues did indeed report on the use of 3-mm Dacron suture to close the hip capsule after proximal and total femur arthroplasty in the journal Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research in 2000 [1Bickels J. Meller I. Henshaw R.M. et al.Reconstruction of hip stability after proximal and total femur resections.Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2000; 375: 218Crossref PubMed Scopus (95) Google Scholar]. Although similar, the surgical technique that they reported differs from the one reported by our group in that the technique of Dr Bickels and colleagues used a “noose” through which the femoral neck was placed. This was then tightened about the femoral neck and anchored to the hip capsule that was also closed with multiple, interrupted 3-mm Dacron sutures. Their technique is best summarized in their fifth figure (Fig. 5A, B; p 224).In contrast to the technique of Dr Bickels and colleagues, our capsule repair is a true purse-string–type stitch that involves an in-and-out suture through the distal portion of the hip capsule that is then tightened about the femoral neck. Despite this difference, we were remiss not to cite the article of Dr Bickels and colleagues. We would like to thank Dr Chiu and colleagues for their insightful comments regarding our article in The Journal of Arthroplasty (ER Henderson, JM Jennings, GA Marulanda, BT Palumbo, D Cheong, GD Letson: Purse-String Capsule Repair to Reduce Proximal Femoral Replacement Dislocation for Tumor—A Novel Technique With Results) and congratulate them on their excellent results with a similar technique. They have raised a point that should be elaborated. Dr Bickels and colleagues did indeed report on the use of 3-mm Dacron suture to close the hip capsule after proximal and total femur arthroplasty in the journal Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research in 2000 [1Bickels J. Meller I. Henshaw R.M. et al.Reconstruction of hip stability after proximal and total femur resections.Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2000; 375: 218Crossref PubMed Scopus (95) Google Scholar]. Although similar, the surgical technique that they reported differs from the one reported by our group in that the technique of Dr Bickels and colleagues used a “noose” through which the femoral neck was placed. This was then tightened about the femoral neck and anchored to the hip capsule that was also closed with multiple, interrupted 3-mm Dacron sutures. Their technique is best summarized in their fifth figure (Fig. 5A, B; p 224). In contrast to the technique of Dr Bickels and colleagues, our capsule repair is a true purse-string–type stitch that involves an in-and-out suture through the distal portion of the hip capsule that is then tightened about the femoral neck. Despite this difference, we were remiss not to cite the article of Dr Bickels and colleagues.