Minimally invasive uncemented total hip arthroplasty through an anterolateral approach with a shorter skin incision.

Total hip arthroplasty using a short skin incision has been associated with great controversy. It has still not yet been demonstrated that a shorter skin incision is efficient or safe for patients. Here, we review 212 cases of uncemented total hip arthroplasty performed since 1999 using the anterolateral approach and a shorter skin incision. Patients were divided into three groups according to the length of the incision at the end of surgery; incisions of 10 cm or less were defined as "mini" ( n = 115) and incisions of 10-15 cm as "short" ( n = 70); these two groups were defined as shorter skin incision groups. Incisions longer than 15 cm in patients undergoing the standard procedure were defined as "conventional" and served as the controls ( n = 27). Statistically significant differences were found with regard to operative duration and intraoperative blood loss: the shorter the length of the incision, the shorter the operative duration and the smaller the intraoperative blood loss. There was no significant difference in postoperative bleeding or in the incidence of complications among the three groups. Total blood losses in the shorter groups were each statistically significant less than that in the conventional group. Comparing the mini group to the short group, the length of the skin incision was influenced by the body mass index (BMI) and gender. For those with a high BMI and for male patients, a slightly longer incision was necessary. We concluded that total hip arthroplasty through a mini or short incision was indeed efficient for patients compared with total hip arthroplasty using a conventional incision.