Outcomes of Acetabular Reconstructions for the Management of Chronic Pelvic Discontinuity: A Systematic Review

A number of articles have been published reporting on the clinical outcomes of various acetabular reconstructions for the management of chronic pelvic discontinuity (PD). However, no systematic review of the literature has been published to date comparing the outcome and complications of different approaches to reconstruction.

The US National Library of Medicine (PubMed/MEDLINE) and EMBASE were queried for publications from January 1980 to January 2019 using keywords pertinent to total hip arthroplasty, PD, acetabular dissociation, clinical or functional outcomes, and revision total hip arthroplasty or postoperative complications.

Overall, 18 articles were included in this analysis (569 cases with chronic PD). The overall survival rate of the acetabular components used for the treatment of chronic PD was 84.7% (482 of 569 cases) at mid-term follow-up, whereas the most common reasons for revision were aseptic loosening (54 of 569 hips; 9.5%), dislocations (45 of 569 hips; 7.9%), periprosthetic joint infection (30 of 569 hips; 5.3%), and periprosthetic fractures (11 of 569 hips; 1.9%). Both pelvic distraction technique (combined with highly porous shells) and custom triflanges resulted in less than 5% failure rates (96.2% and 95.8%, respectively) at final follow-up. Also, highly effective in the treatment of PD were cup-cages and highly porous shells with and/or without augments with 92% survivorship free of revision for aseptic loosening for both reconstruction methods. Inferior outcomes were reported for conventional cementless shells combined with acetabular plates (72.7%) as well as ilioischial cages and reconstruction rings (66.7% and 60.6% survivorship, respectively).

The current literature contains moderate quality evidence in support of the use of custom triflange implants and pelvic distraction techniques for the treatment of chronic PD, with a less than 5% all-cause revision rate and low complication rates at mean mid-term follow-up. Cup-cages and highly porous shells with or without augments could also be considered for the treatment of PD because both resulted in greater than 90% survival rates. Finally, there is still no consensus regarding the impact of different types of acetabular reconstruction methods on optimizing the healing potential of PD, and further studies are required in this area to better understand the influence of PD healing on construct survivorship and functional outcomes with each reconstruction method.