Restoration of leg length and offset correlates with trochanteric pain syndrome in total hip arthroplasty

Abstract

Persistent pain around the greater trochanter is a common complication after total hip arthroplasty. Restoration of biomechanics such as leg length, femoral und acetabular offset is crucial in THA. The purpose of this study was to evaluate postoperative differences of these parameters after THA and to analyze their association to greater trochanteric pain syndrome. Furthermore, we aimed to evaluate the clinical relevance of trochanteric pain syndrome compared to patient reported outcome measures. 3D-CT scans of 90 patients were analyzed after minimalinvasive total hip arthroplasty and leg length, femoral and acetabular offset differences were measured. Clinical evaluation was performed three years after THA regarding the presence of trochanteric pain syndrome and using outcome measures. Furthermore, the patients’ expectation were evaluated. Patients with trochanteric pain syndrome showed a higher absolute discrepancy of combined leg length, femoral and acetabular offset restoration compared to the non-operated contralateral side with 11.8 ± 6.0 mm than patients without symptoms in the trochanteric region with 7.8 ± 5.3 mm (p = 0.01). Patients with an absolute deviation of the combined parameters of more than 5 mm complained more frequently about trochanteric symptoms (29.2%, 19/65) than patients with a biomechanical restoration within 5 mm compared to the non-affected contralateral side (8.0%, 2/25, p = 0.03). Clinical outcome measured three years after THA was significantly lower in patients with trochanteric symptoms than without trochanteric pain (p < 0.03). Similarly, fulfillment of patient expectations as measured by THR-Survey was lower in the patients with trochanteric pain (p < 0.005). An exact combined restoration of leg length, acetabular and femoral offset reduces significantly postoperative trochanteric pain syndrome and improves the clinical outcome of the patients.