The influence of patient factors on femoral rotation after total hip arthroplasty

BACKGROUND: A postoperative change in femoral rotation following total hip arthroplasty (THA) might be the cause of dislocation due to the change in combined anteversion. However, very few studies have evaluated the femoral rotation angle following THA, or the factors that influence femoral rotation. We aimed to evaluate changes in femoral rotation after THA, and to investigate preoperative patient factors that influence femoral rotation after THA. METHODS: This study involved 211 hips treated with primary THA. We used computed tomography to measure the femoral rotation angle before and one week after THA. In addition, multiple regression analysis was performed to evaluate preoperative patient factors that could influence femoral rotation after THA. RESULTS: The femoral rotation angle was 0.2 ± 14° externally before surgery and 4.4 ± 12° internally after surgery (p < 0.001). Multiple regression analysis revealed that sex (β = 0.19; p = 0.003), age (β = 0.15; p = 0.017), preoperative anatomical femoral anteversion (β = − 0.25; p = 0.002), and preoperative femoral rotation angle (β = 0.36; p < 0.001) were significantly associated with the postoperative femoral rotation angle. The final model of the regression formula was described by the following equation: [postoperative femoral rotation angle = 5.41 × sex (female: 0, male: 1) + 0.15 × age - 0.22 × preoperative anatomical femoral anteversion + 0.33 × preoperative femoral rotation angle - 10.1]. CONCLUSION: The current study showed the mean internal change of 4.6° in the femoral rotation angle one week after THA. Sex, age, preoperative anatomical femoral anteversion and preoperative femoral rotation were associated with postoperative femoral rotation. The patients who were male, older, and who exhibited lesser preoperative anatomical femoral anteversion or greater preoperative femoral rotation angles, tended to demonstrate an externally rotated femur after THA. Conversely, patients who were female, younger, and who exhibited greater preoperative anatomical femoral anteversion or lesser preoperative femoral rotation angles, tended to demonstrate an internal rotation of the femur after THA.