Managing chronic dislocated total hip arthroplasty.

Dislocation is the most common complication occurring after total hip arthroplasty. Thus, managing the patient with chronic dislocation will continue to be a challenging problem facing joint replacement surgeons. It is believed that several factors contribute to chronic dislocation, ie, surgical approach, inadequate restoration of soft-tissue tension, prosthetic design, and orientation of the prosthetic components. Methods of constraint, both internal and external, are valuable adjuncts available to the joint replacement surgeon that, with certain limitations, result in successful reduction of repeated dislocation and lead to initial stability of the hip joint.