Comparison of functional outcome of total hip arthroplasties involving four surgical approaches.

One hundred thirty-seven total hip arthroplasty patients had a follow-up evaluation consisting of an orthopaedic physical evaluation, isokinetic strength testing, and collection of demographic and surgical information from medical records. The intraoperative variables of surgical time and blood loss and the functional outcome status of the subjects, as demonstrated by D'Aubigne--Postel ratings and isokinetic strength tests, were compared for various trochanteric management techniques: no osteotomy; complete Charnley-type osteotomy; sharp abductor release; and a wafer technique, in which a wafer of bone was osteotomized from the trochanter to release the abductors. A comparison of the mean values for the variables indicated that the wafer and sharp techniques were superior to the complete and no osteotomy techniques. The wafer technique resulted in statistically significant superior isokinetic strength measured in adduction, flexion, and extension. Surgical time was significantly greater in the complete osteotomy cases and blood loss was least in the wafer cases, although these differences were not significant.