Seventy-one total hip replacements in 65 patients were performed in our elinic between 1973 and 1981.
Fifteen these patients had died from causes unrelated to the arthroplasty and another 18 patients had been lost to follow-up. After excluding one Charnley arthroplasty case, there remained 31 patients who had 35 Charnley-Müller THR were followed up.
Revision surgery was performed on 5 hips (14.3%), because of loosening in three, infection in one, fracture of the femoral shaft in one case.
The average score on the JOA hip-rating scale increased from 51.7 points preoperatively to 78.1 postoperatively. Five years after surgery, the average score increased to 78.7, but at the time of last follow-up (mean: 13 years 9 months) it had decreased to 68.9.
Good results continued five years after surgery.
X-ray evidence of loosening was seen in 29.4% of the acetabular component and 11.8% of the femoral component.
In spite of the low hip score and loosening seen on X-ray, the majority of patients were satisfised with the result of their THR.
The signifcant difference between good and poor cases can not be explained by age, weight, original disease, occupation or X-ray finding.
