Comparison of Surgical Parameters and Results between Curved Varus Osteotomy and Rotational Osteotomy for Osteonecrosis of the Femoral Head

BACKGROUND: Various osteotomies have been introduced to treat osteonecrosis of the femoral head. The purpose of this study was to compare surgical parameters, postoperative limb length discrepancy, and minimum 5-year clinical and radiological results between transtrochanteric curved varus osteotomy (TCVO) and transtrochanteric rotational osteotomy (TRO) for osteonecrosis of the femoral head. METHODS: From 2004 to 2009, 103 consecutive TROs (97 patients) followed by 72 consecutive TCVOs (64 patients) were performed for the treatment of osteonecrosis of the femoral head. Of these, 85 patients (91 hips) in the TRO group and 58 patients (65 hips) in the TCVO group completed minimum 5-year clinical and radiological follow-up. The Kaplan-Meier product-limit method was used to estimate survival. RESULTS: The TCVO group had shorter operation time (p < 0.05) and less estimated blood loss (p = 0.026). Postoperative collapse developed in 26 hips (28.6%) in the TRO group and 7 hips (10.8%) in the TCVO group (p = 0.007). Osteophyte formation was observed in 34 hips (37.4%) in the TRO group and 13 hips (20%) in the TCVO group (p = 0.020). Fifteen hips (16.5%) in the TRO group and 7 hips (10.8%) in the TCVO group underwent conversion total hip arthroplasty (THA). The survival rate at 9 years with radiographic collapse as the endpoint was 68.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 58.1% to 79.3%) in the TRO group, and 84.7% (95% CI, 71.5% to 97.9%) in the TCVO group. With conversion to THA as the endpoint, the survival rate was 82.2% (95% CI, 73.1% to 91.3%) in the TRO group and 89.2% (95% CI, 81.7% to 96.7%) in the TCVO group. CONCLUSIONS: The comparison indicates that TCVO was better than TRO in terms of surgical parameters including operation time and estimated blood loss while the 9-year survival rates were similar.