RESUMEN

BACKGROUND: The problem of failed acetabulum fracture fixation is increasing due to increased incidence of high-velocity injury and a large number of patients are being operated on in the past few years. Limited evidence is available regarding results of Total hip arthroplasty (THA) in patients with failed acetabulum fracture fixation surgery. We assessed the clinical, radiological and postoperative complications. Besides this, we also evaluated functional outcome and quality of life following THA in failed open reduction and internal fixation of acetabular fractures. METHOD: The current retrospective study was performed at the tertiary center from 2015 to 2020. Eighteen patients of failed acetabulum fracture fixation surgery (14 males and 4 females) were included with a mean follow-up period of 2.4 years. Postero-lateral approach was done in all cases. Clinico-radiological outcome, functional outcomes were recorded according to Harris Hip score (HHS) and quality of life was assessed by using the 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) score. Postoperative complications were also assessed. RESULTS: The age of patients ranged from 20 years to 68 years with a mean age of 44.7 years. 16 of the patients (88.9%) had a united acetabular fracture while 2 of them (11.1%) presented with un-united acetabular fracture. The THA implant was found to be stable in all 18 cases. The Harris Hip score of the study ranged from 82 to 95 with a mean of 89.72 ± 4.24 while the SF-12 score ranged from 40.0 to 49.4 with a mean of 44.29 ± 2.95. Out of 18 cases, 11 (61.1%) returned with excellent outcomes while the rest 7 (38.9%) returned with good outcomes as per Harris Hips score criteria. The correlation and regression analysis shows between HHS and SF-12 was positive and statistically significant (r = 0.592, p = 0.010). CONCLUSION: THA in patients with failed acetabulum fracture fixation surgery provides a reliable option with satisfactory outcomes along with a better quality of life.