Functional Outcome Of Hemiarthroplasty Using Austin Moore Prosthesis

Abstract

Femoral neck fractures, one of the most common injuries in the elderly¹, have always presented great challenges to orthopaedic surgeons. The incidence of these fractures has increased with improvement in life expectancy². Experience of the last four decades has shown that hip arthroplasty is the best treatment for intracapsular fracture neck of femur in elderly in terms of both short-term and long-term results^1,3–5. This is particularly applicable to the elderly subjects, where complications related to prolonged immobilization need to be prevented⁶. Hemiarthroplasty can be performed using Austin Moore, Bipolar or Thompson prosthesis^7,8. In our study of 162 patients who underwent hemiarthroplasty using Austin Moore prosthesis from February 2018 to October 2018, we have tried to assess their functional outcome and quantify them using Harris hip score. Most subjects were elderly with average age of 77.20 & majority of them were females (59%). 71subjects (43.8%) had Diabetes Mellitus, 57 (35.2%) had Osteoarthritis of the knee joint and 4 (2.5%) had previous history of Cerebrovascular Accident. Post operatively, 35.2% of the subjects could walk unlimited distance without major symptoms, 47.5% of them could walk 6 to 8 blocks, 12.3% could walk 2 to 3 blocks and 4.9% could walk indoors only. 29% subjects had no limp whereas 59.3% had slight limp, 8.6% had moderate limp and 3% had severe limp. 22.8% subjects did not use any support for walking, 53.1% of them used cane for long walks, 19.8% used cane most of the time and 4.3% used one crutch for walking.  Functional outcome quantified in terms of Harris hip score^9,10 showed 32.7% of excellent score, 35.8% (good score), 22.8% (fair score) and 8.6% (poor score). We conclude that the results were good enough to recommend, considering the less economic burden & the advantage of early mobilization, while preventing potential complications of recumbence.