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Abstract
Background Due to its collarless, double-tapered polished design, the Exeter femoral stem is known to migrate distally in the first 5 years after implantation. However, its long-term migration pattern has not been investigated.
Patients and methods 39 consecutive patients (41 total hip arthroplasties) received a cemented Exeter stem and had prospective clinical and RSA follow-up. Patients were evaluated postoperatively at 6, 12, 26, and 52 weeks, and annually thereafter. Short-term results have been reported. In this study, the mean length of follow-up was 9.4 years (SD 3.2 years). No patients were lost to follow-up. 15 patients died during follow-up.
Results No stems were revised. In 4 stems, fractures of the cement mantle were noted within the first 3 postoperative years. In 3 stems, this resulted in a complete circumferential cement mantle discontinuity. For the 37 well-performing stems, continuous but small migration was measured between 2 and 12 years of follow-up. Continued subsidence of 0.08 mm/year (95% CI: 0.05–0.12, p < 0.001) was seen in combination with continued rotation in retroversion of 0.07°/year (95% CI: 0.02–0.12, p = 0.01). At 10 years of follow-up, mean subsidence was 2.1 (SD 1.2) mm and mean retroversion was 1.8° (SD 2.0). Two-thirds of this occurred during the first 2 postoperative years. In the 3 stems with a complete circumferential cement fracture, a sudden and disproportionately high increase in subsidence was measured in the time period of occurrence.
Interpretation The Exeter femoral stem continues to migrate during the first decade after implantation. Absolute stability is not required for good long-term survival if this is compatible with the design of the implant.
All authors participated in the conception and design of the study and in the writing and editing of the manuscript. MJN was responsible for the statistics and RSA.
The study received funding from the European Information and Communication Technologies Community Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no. 248693.
No competing interests declared.