Rotational Acetabular Osteotomy for Osteonecrosis with Collapse of the Femoral Head in Young Patients

Abstract

While rotational acetabular osteotomy has been reported to be successful for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the dysplastic hip, little is known about its efficacy in the treatment of osteonecrosis of the femoral head. We retrospectively reviewed the results for a consecutive series of twenty-one patients (twenty-five hips) who had undergone rotational acetabular osteotomy between 1995 and 2001 for the treatment of extensive osteonecrosis of the femoral head associated with collapse. All but two of the patients had a history of steroid therapy as part of a treatment regimen for various diseases. At the time of surgery, the mean age of the five men and sixteen women was 29.0 years. The mean duration of follow-up was forty-nine months. No patient was lost to follow-up. The lesions were classified according to the staging system described by Steinberg et al., and the extent of necrosis was measured with use of the criteria described by Kerboul et al. Clinical evaluation was performed with use of the scoring system of Merle d'Aubigne and Postel. Radiographic evaluation was performed with use of yearly serial anteroposterior and lateral plain radiographs. The mean Merle d'Aubigne and Postel score improved from 11.3 points preoperatively to 14.9 points at the time of the final follow-up (p < 0.001). The mean pain score improved from 3.0 to 5.6 points (p < 0.001). However, the mean mobility score was 5.3 points preoperatively but only 4.9 points postoperatively (p = 0.1). All of the osteotomy sites showed radiographic evidence of osseous union at the time of the latest follow-up. Collapse of the femoral head progressed in seven hips, but in six of these hips the change in the extent of collapse was <2 mm. In the present study of young patients with extensive osteonecrosis and collapse of the femoral head, rotational acetabular osteotomy was associated with symptomatic relief and absence of substantial collapse of the femoral head at the time of early to intermediate-term follow-up.