Evaluation of proximal femoral geometry in plain anterior-posterior radiograph in eastern-Indian population.

BACKGROUND The morphologic features of the proximal femur are used in preoperative planning prior to total hip arthroplasty. The standard commercially available marketed prostheses sometimes may not be the best fit to all subjects because of the large anatomic variation among different population. Orthopaedic surgeons always stress the need for a proper implant-patient match in hip joint replacements to avoid post-operative complication of mismatch which may affect the ultimate outcome of the operation. AIM The present study was undertaken to measure the important parameters of upper end of femur in elderly Eastern Indian population which will help the prosthetist to manufacture ideal implant for the local population. This will also help the orthopaedic surgeons while positioning the implants during total hip replacement (THR) procedure in this population. MATERIALS AND METHODS Measurements were made on both sides, left and right from anterior-posterior radiograph of 102 subject (>50yrs, 42 male and 60 females) using AGFA software. Three parameters femoral head diameter (FHD), neck-shaft angle (NSA) and horizontal off-set (HO) were measured. RESULTS SPSS software used for data analysis. Gender- wise no significant differences were found in NSA and FHD, but HO was significantly lower in female than that of male (p<.05).The values on both sides didn't differ significantly. CONCLUSION Improved knowledge of the morphology of the proximal femora will assist the surgeon in restoring the geometry of the proximal femur during total hip arthroplasty and the data could be used as a guideline to design a more suitable implant for Eastern Indian population.