The effect of posterior capsule repair upon post-operative hip dislocation following primary total hip arthroplasty.

BACKGROUND: Herein, we evaluated, retrospectively, the effect of posterior capsular repair upon postoperative hip dislocation subsequent to total hip arthroplasty (THA) incorporating a posterolateral approach.

METHODS: A total of 181 patients undergoing 204 primary non-complicated THA surgical procedures in the period from January 2000 to October 2005 inclusively were included in this study. The patients were separated into two groups by whether the posterior capsular repair had been incorporated in the surgical procedure. For the surgeon did not commence repairing the posterior capsule until July, 2003, all members in the group that did not undergo posterior capsular repair (142 hips from 131 patients) were collected since January, 2000 to July, 2003, while the members in the group that underwent posterior capsular repair (62 hips from 52 patients) were followed since July, 2003, to October, 2005. With a minimum follow-up period of 12 months, we evaluated the early post-operative dislocation rate.

RESULTS: The early postoperative hip-dislocation rate for the group who did not undergo posterior capsular repair appeared to be substantially greater (6.38% versus 0%) than the corresponding figure for the group the members of which underwent posterior capsular repair. In addition, patient demographics and the orientation of acetabular components for the replaced hip joints, as presented in postoperative radiographs, did not differ between the two groups.

CONCLUSION: Thus, surgeons should include posterior capsular repair as an important step in the surgical procedures of posterolateral approach for all THA in order to reduce the likelihood of early hip dislocation subsequent to THA.