Comparison of Minimally Invasive Total Hip Arthroplasty versus Conventional Hemiarthroplasty for Displaced Femoral Neck Fractures in Active Elderly Patients

Fractures of the femoral neck in elderly patients can be treated by internal fixation, hemiarthroplasty, or total hip arthroplasty (THA), and the treatment modality used should be determined on the basis of considerations of the degree of fracture displacement, age, functional demands, and the risk factors for surgery and anesthesia. We studied 85 active elderly patients who underwent minimally invasive two-incision THA or conventional bipolar hemiarthroplasty (BHA) within 2 weeks of injury for the treatment of acute displaced femoral neck fractures. Patients were followed up for a minimum of 24 months. The average operation times were 70 minutes in the THA group and 46 minutes in the BHA group (p=0.002), and average blood losses during the perioperative period were 921 cc and 892 cc, respectively (p=0.562). In the THA group, the average postoperative Harris hip score was 88.3 and the average Western Ontario and McMaster University score was 28.8, whereas in the BHA group the corresponding scores were 80.4 (p=0.006) and 32.5 (p=0.012), respectively. There were 2 cases of hip dislocation in the THA group, and 2 cases in the BHA group underwent conversion to THA. Our short-term follow-up results were better for minimally invasive two-incision THA than for conventional BHA for the treatment of acute displaced femoral neck fractures in active elderly patients.