Resection arthroplasty following infected total hip arthroplasty.

We evaluated twenty-one patients, one to eight years after removal of total hip-arthroplasty components because of infection. Sixteen of the patients had moderate to severe pain with either weight-bearing or sitting, and the other five had continuous moderate to severe pain. Twelve patients had an Iowa hip rating of less than 50 points, and the mean for the entire group was 49 points. All but three patients required a walker or crutches for walking. Only three patients were satisfied with the result of the resection arthroplasty. There was a suggestion that the patients with a smooth intertrochanteric line of resection of the proximal end of the femur had better results than those who did not. Patients whose wounds never healed had worse results than those whose wounds healed, but neither the initial treatment of the wound (open packing versus closed-tube irrigation) nor retained cement determined whether healing would occur.