This single-center, retrospective, comparative cohort study enrolled patients who underwent primary THA using a DM cup. From January 2016 to December 2018, 121 DM THA procedures were conducted at our tertiary university hospital. The inclusion criterion of this study was the presence of more than one of the following risk factors for dislocation after THA: neuromuscular disease; deformed spine, including previous spine fusion; dysplastic hip; hip fracture; previous hip fracture failure; and ankylosing spondylitis. Of the 121 patients, 7 patients, who were lost to follow-up, were excluded. Furthermore, 6 patients were excluded because of insufficient follow-up period (< 2 years) or incomplete medical records, and 45 patients were excluded because DM cups were used during revision surgery. Finally, 63 patients with a minimum follow-up of 2 years were included DM group. For selecting the control group participants, the aforementioned inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to 1,002 patients who underwent FB THA during the same observation period. Fixed 1:1 propensity score matching was performed to minimize any bias that would affect the outcome analysis [10]. Nearest-neighbor matching was performed considering age, sex, and risk factors for dislocation. After checking the histogram support, 63 FB THA matched patients were selected as the final control group (FB group) (Fig. 1). Each group comprised of 63 THA cases (Table 1). There were no differences between the groups with respect to age, sex, body mass index, cause of THA, risk factor for dislocation, underlying disease, and the American Society of Anesthesiologists status. The mean follow-up period was 3.1 years and 3.5 years in the DM and FB groups, respectively.
All operations were performed by an experienced arthroplasty surgeon using a posterolateral approach with the patients in the lateral decubitus position. Cementless acetabular and femoral components were used in all patients, and the stem design was determined according to the patient's preoperative template and proximal femoral geometry during surgery (Table 2). Two patients in each group were subjected to spinal anesthesia, while the others were subjected to general anesthesia. In the DM group, the G7 acetabular system (Zimmer Biomet, Inc., Warsaw, IN) was used in all cases. The G7 DM acetabular system device includes a VEPE outer head, which features a third-generation HXLPE, and a delta ceramic inner femoral head. Titanium alloy acetabular cups are three-dimensional porous cups with a mean pore size of 475 µm, 70% porosity, and coefficient of friction of 1.25. A multi-hole design for acetabular cups was used in this study. In all cases, a 28-mm femoral head was used, and the mean size of the acetabular cup was 53.1 mm. In the FB group, the Trilogy cementless acetabular cup (Zimmer Biomet) and second-generation HXLPE combination was used in 23 cases, whereas the G7 acetabular cup and VEPE combination was used in 40 cases. An elevated HXLPE liner was used in 7 patients who underwent the procedure with a Trilogy cup. Delta ceramic femoral heads were used in all cases, with 32-mm heads used most commonly (n = 38), followed by 36-mm heads (n = 20) and 28-mm heads (n = 5). The mean size of the acetabular cup used in the FB group was 51.8 mm, which was not different from that of the DM group. Postoperatively, all patients were prescribed subcutaneous, low molecular weight heparin for thromboprophylaxis. On the second postoperative day, the patients were instructed to walk with partial weight-bearing with the aid of crutches or a walker, followed by full weight-bearing as tolerated.
PolyWare Rev. 7 (Draftware Developers Inc. Vevay, IN, USA) was used to measure the anteversion and inclination of the acetabular cup, and the operating times of the two groups were noted and compared. A postoperative radiologic review was performed at 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months, and annually thereafter. Standard radiographs with additional Judet views were used to detect periprosthetic osteolysis. Radiolucent lesions ≥ 2 mm around the prosthetic components that were not present immediately postoperatively denoted osteolysis [11]. Changes in inclination > 5° and vertical or ≥ 2 mm horizontal migration of the acetabular component were defined as acetabular component loosening. The medical records and radiographs of patients were analyzed to determine reoperation and presence of postoperative complications such as dislocation, IPD, periprosthetic fracture, venous thromboembolism, and other medical complications. The modified Harris hip score (mHHS) was used to assess the patient-reported outcomes (PROM).
Statistical analysis
The summary data are expressed as means ± standard deviations for continuous variables and as numbers and frequencies (%) for categorical variables. Continuous variables with a non-normal distribution were analyzed using a Mann Whitney U-test, whereas those with a normal distribution were analyzed using independent t-tests. Categorical data were statistically analyzed using a chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test (n < 40 or t < 1). Propensity scores were calculated using logistic regression analysis. Statistical analysis was performed using Statistical Product and Service Solutions software (version 20.0; SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA), and p-values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.
Ethics approval and consent to participate.
This study followed the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki and strengthening the reporting of observational studies in epidemiology (STROBE) guidelines for cohort studies. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with ethical standards, patient information was reviewed by the university human subjects committee and informed consent exemption was obtained from the IRB of our affiliated institutions (Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Approval No. 05-2021-032). All experimental protocols were approved by our institutional committee.