Abstract
Introduction: Arthroplasty as a treatment option for femoral neck fracture in elderly people has been widely supported although the type of arthroplasty is debatable. This study was conducted to evaluate the functional outcome of bipolar hemiarthroplasty (BHA).
Materials & Methods: 49 patients with femoral neck fracture who were operated with BHA within 5 years were included in the study. The clinical, radiographic, and functional results, using modified Harris-Hip score (HHS), were evaluated with a follow-up of 47 months.
Results & Discussion: 49 patients, - 66.7% men and 33.3% women, with 9 patients (18.4%) below 60 and 40 (81.6%) over 60 years old were studied. The average follow-up period was 48.66 months in people below 60 years and 46.60 months in over 60 years patients. The difference in the average HHS between the two groups was marginally significant (p=0.06). In the performance section of HHS, 55.6% showed poor performance, 33.3% relatively good performance and 11.1% good performance in people below 60- years group. These scores for over 60- years group were 85%, 7.5% and 7.5% in respectively.
Conclusion: The present study could not observe a satisfactory functional outcome after BHA in below or over 60-years population in this medium-term study. Therefore, evaluating the hip function after BHA in the long term and the cause for poor function is needed to be investigated. Slow erosion of the acetabulum following BHA can be a possible reason, lowering performance which requires in-depth investigation in long term studies.
Keywords: Femoral neck fractures, Hemiarthroplasty, Outcome assessment.