आईएसएसएन: 2161-0533
Eric L. Smith, David Mattingly, Gerard Chang, Michael Henry and Abdurrahman O Kandil
This is a retrospective, consecutive, single-surgeon case series which examines the clinical and radiographic outcomes of 19 hips with the incidental finding of hip abductor tears during primary Total Hip Artroplasty (THA). The incidence of abductor tears was 0.68% during our study period from 1994 – 2008. We found that positive preoperative Trendelenburg gait was a positive predictor of the presence of an abductor tear. Seven out of 19 patients had an intraoperative change in surgical approach due to the extent of the abductor tear. Bilaterality and the presence of sclerosis preoperatively were significantly associated with a longer limp period postoperatively. In conclusion, idiopathic abductor tears are rare during primary THA, however there is a high likelihood of changing the intraoperative approach if they are encountered.