Background: There is no study to date comparing intraoperative femur fractures (IFFs) in the direct anterior approach (DAA) with and without a fracture table. We hypothesize that there is no significant difference in the IFF with and without a fracture table when performed by experienced DAA hip surgeons.
Methods: This study is a 1-year retrospective review of patients who underwent DAA total hip arthroplasty by 2 surgeons: one surgeon uses a flat table and manually elevates the femur with a large bone hook, while the other surgeon uses a fracture table and a mechanical femoral elevator. Exclusion criteria included cemented femoral implants, femoral neck fractures, and lack of 6-month follow-up.
Results: We identified 487 patients for analysis (220 male and 267 female, average age 66.55 years). There were 12 total IFFs (2.46%): 8 female and 4 male patients. The average age of IFF patients was 70.67 years and in nonfracture patients was 66.00 years. There was no difference in gender (P = .2981) or age (P = .2099) between IFF and nonfracture patients. In the fracture table group, there were 6 IFFs (2.22%) in 271 patients; in the nonfracture table group, there were 6 IFFs (2.76%) in 216 patients. There was no statistical difference in IFF between the 2 groups (P = .6973). We observed just 2 patients (0.4%) in this series where the IFFs changed management requiring a revision femoral stem.
Conclusion: There was no statistical difference in IFF with or without the use of fracture table. Both DAA surgical technique variations are felt to be equivalent regarding the risk for IFF during DAA cementless total hip arthroplasty.
Keywords: anterior approach; arthroplasty; femur fracture; fracture table; intraoperative fracture; periprosthetic fracture.
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