Porous tantalum implant in early osteonecrosis of the hip: preliminary report on operative, survival, and outcomes results.

Porous tantalum implants are used in early osteonecrosis of the hip. Device evaluation included surgical time, blood loss, hospitalization, patient-controlled analgesia use, transfusions, implant survival, and outcomes. Mean blood loss was 70 mL. Mean operative time was 36 minutes. Average hospitalization was less than 1 day. No patient required patient-controlled analgesia use or transfusions. Results were compared to a historical vascularized fibular graft population. All parameters were less than the fibular graft groups (P < .00001). All surviving implants (86%) resulted in good to excellent outcomes. Kaplan-Meier analysis at 39 months was 86% and 67% for the implant and fibular graft, respectively (P = .21). Early outcomes demonstrate that porous tantalum implants are a safe option for femoral head salvage. Continued follow-up is necessary to determine the long-term success.