Case report: Painless chronic liner dissociation of a total hip arthroplasty.

BACKGROUND: Dislocation or liner dissociation of a total hip prosthesis usually results in pain and discomfort. Although several reports describe chronic dislocation and its treatment, chronic liner dissociation is an unreported complication. CASE DESCRIPTION: We report an unrecognized dissociation and displacement of the liner of a total hip prosthesis after revision THA. The patient had virtually no pain or functional restrictions. The patient's only complaint was pain on the contralateral side, associated with a leg-length discrepancy. Since the patient had no complaints relative to the liner dissociation we elected not to pursue further treatment. The contralateral pain was treated successfully with a shoe lift. LITERATURE REVIEW: Chronic dislocation of a THA is a rare complication and we found reports of only seven cases in the literature. We found no reports of chronic liner dissociation. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Orthopaedic surgeons should be aware of the possibility of this rare complication. Our case and the literature suggest treatment can be nonsurgical or surgical.