Abstract
Total hip arthroplasty (THA) is one of the major breakthroughs in modern orthopedics this century. Since its introduction in the early 1960s by Sir J. Charnley, it has become the most common form of arthroplasty. The art of performing THA has developed to a large extent, yet with the inevitable “price” of a learning curve. The rates of early and late complications reported in the orthopedic literature have been decreasing gradually, along with improved short- and long-term results. We report the results of two similar series of THA performed with an interval of 15 to 20 years, which show that the improvement of the results that form the learning curve of THA at our institution is statistically significant.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahnfelt L, Herberts P, Malchau H, et al (1990) Prognosis of total hip replacement. A Swedish multicenter study of 4664 revisions. Acta Orthop Scand 61 [Suppl 238]:1–26
Harris WH (1994) Osteolysis and particle disease in hip replacement. Acta Orthop Scand 65:113–123
Harris WH, Sledge CB (1994) Total hip and total knee replacement. N Engl J Med 323:725–731
Havelin LI, Espehaug B, Vollset SE, et al (1993) The Norwegian arthroplasty register. A survey of 17,444 hip replacements, 1987–1990. Acta Orthop Scand 64:245–251
Havelin L, Espehaug B, Vollset SE, et al (1994) Early failures among 14,009 cemented and 1,326 uncemented prostheses for primary coxarthrosis. Acta Orthop Scand 65:1–6
Howie DW, Haynes DR, Rogers SD, et al (1993) The response to particulate debris. Orthop Clin North Am 24:571–582
Johnston RC, Fitzgerald RH, Harris WH, et al (1990) Clinical and radiographic evaluation of total hip replacement. J Bone Joint Surg [Am] 72:161–168
Madhok R, Lewallen DG, Wallrich SL, et al (1993) Trends in the utilization of primary total hip arthroplasty, 1969 through 1990: a population based study in Olmsted county, Minnesota. Mayo Clin Proc 68:11–18
Malchau H, Herberts P, Ahnfelt L (1993) Prognosis of total hip replacement in Sweden. Follow-up of 92,675 operations performed 1978–1990. Acta Orthop Scand 64:497–506
Seagroatt V, Heng ST, Goldacre M, et al (1991) Elective total hip replacement: incidence, emergency readmission rate, and postoperative mortality. Br Med J 303:1431–1435
Wroblewski WB (1993) Cementless versus cemented total hip arthroplasty. A scientific controversy. Orthop Clin North Am 24:591–597
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Salai, M., Mintz, Y., Giveon, U. et al. The “learning curve” of total hip arthroplasty. Arch Orthop Trauma Surg 116, 420–422 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00434004
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00434004