Extension of the Direct Anterior Approach for the Treatment of Periprosthetic Femoral Fractures

Periprosthetic femoral fractures (PFFs) after total hip arthroplasty are devastating complications often resulting in functional limitations and increased mortality. The use of the direct anterior approach (DAA) is becoming more popular, and the number of revisions done through this interval is increasing. The DAA interval can be expanded to treat PFFs. This retrospective case series assessed outcomes of PFF patients treated with the extension of the DAA interval.

The study contained 40 patients (40 hips). Mean patient age was 74.3 years (range, 55.1-92.2 years). Mean follow-up time was 50.4 months (range, 20-98.2 months). Fractures were classified as Vancouver B2 (n = 36) and B3 (n = 4).

Median cut-to-close time was 152 minutes (interquartile range: 80-279). There were five complications (12.5%): 2 deaths, 1 transient femoral nerve palsy, 1 fissure distal to the stem, and 1 hematoma.

Expansion of the DAA interval to treat PFF showed similar results compared with other surgical approaches in terms of mortality, complications, fracture healing, and dislocation rate. These results indicate that femoral revision for PFF in the DAA interval is a safe and reliable procedure compared with other surgical approaches for the treatment of Vancouver B2 and B3 periprosthetic fractures.