Total hip arthroplasty in children who have undergone arthroplasty with demineralized bone-cartilage allocups

Abstract

Introduction. Treating children with degenerative dystrophic diseases of the hip joint has become one of the most acute problems in contemporary orthopedics. Until recently, we performed arthroplasty by demineralized bone-cartilage allocups (DBCA) in the Clinic of the Hip Joint Pathology of the Turner Scientific and Research Institute for Children’s Orthopedics for patients showing clinical and radiological signs of irreversible destruction of the hip joint; we carried out this procedure to preserve the function of the lower limb. However, over the last 8 years, we have changed our protocol for children older than 12 years of age and have replaced DBCA with total hip replacement. In a number of cases, total hip replacement was performed after a previous intervention involving arthroplasty with DBCA.
 Objective. To determine the technical peculiarities of total hip replacement after a previous intervention involving arthroplasty with DBCA.
 Material and methods. We analyzed the results of treatment involving various types of hip pathology in 13 children (100%) aged between 15 and 16 years [8 girls (61.5%) and 5 boys (38.5%)]. The medical histories of all 13 children (100%) showed repeated operations on the hip joint, ultimately resulting in arthroplasty with DBCA. All 13 children (100%) underwent a total hip replacement. Upon hip replacement, all 13 patients (100%) showed a pronounced thinning and hardening of the edges and the bottom of the acetabulum, which created some difficulties in the process of acetabular component implantation. The transformation of DBCA was not evident in any of the 13 cases (100%).
 Results. During the observation period of 3–5 years following total hip arthroplasty, all 13 cases (100%) showed recovery in the range of motion and absence of pain. An important criterion for evaluating the quality of care was the complete social and domestic adaptation of all 13 children (100%) during the period from 6 to 9 months following total hip replacement surgery.
 Conclusions. The main feature of the implementation of total hip replacement, following a previous intervention involving arthroplasty with DBCA, was a pronounced deficit of the pelvic bone in the joint component. This significantly complicated the subsequent implantation of the acetabular prosthesis component, and in some cases required the use of a cemented acetabular component. Our experience suggests that patients under 11 years of age who show clinical and radiological signs of coxarthrosis can be treated with arthroplasty with DBCA in order to save the lost function of the hip joint and maintain the function of the periarticular muscles.