The use of bone allografts in two-stage reconstruction after failure of hip replacements due to infection.

Bone allografts were used to reconstruct deficient acetabular and femoral bone in eighteen patients during two-stage revision of a hip arthroplasty that had failed due to infection. At a mean of 4.2 years after reimplantation, only two patients had had recurrence of the infection. Four patients needed another revision arthroplasty for reasons other than infection. These results suggest that allografts of bone are useful for the reconstruction of osseous deficiencies in carefully selected patients who have a hip arthroplasty after infection. The results do not support the concern that allografts that are used under these circumstances necessarily lead to a high rate of recurrence of infection. However, the long-term results of the use of allografts in hip arthroplasty after infection remain unknown.