Posterior Approach and Inferior Capsulotomy in Bipolar Hemiarthroplasty for Femoral Neck Fractures: Comparison with Superior Capsulotomy

Abstract

Background: Hemiarthroplasty is frequently used to treat displaced femoral neck fractures in elderly patients, but it has a higher risk of postoperative dislocation. We introduced the posterior approach and inferior capsulotomy (PAICO) to enhance joint stability after bipolar hemiarthroplasty for femoral neck fracture. We evaluated whether the PAICO would have a lower dislocation rate than the conventional posterior approach with superior capsulotomy. Methods: From January 2021 to December 2021, we prospectively recruited 25 patients (25 hips) aged 50 years or older who underwent bipolar hemiarthroplasty for femoral neck fractures due to low-energy trauma as the PAICO group. We compared the PAICO group with a historical control group who had undergone hemiarthroplasty in 7 institutes between 2010 and 2020. The primary endpoint was dislocation within 1 year after the surgery. We compared data from the PAICO group with the data from the historical control group from the Korean Hip Fracture Registry which was carried out in South Korea. Results: A total of 25 patients (25 hips) were enrolled in the present study; 3,477 patients (3,571 hips) who underwent bipolar hemiarthroplasty were reviewed as the historical control group. In the PAICO group, we observed no dislocation, whereas the dislocation rate in the control group was 1.3%. Conclusions: In patients with displaced femoral neck fractures, the PAICO approach demonstrated comparable results in operation time and complication rates when compared to bipolar hemiarthroplasty using superior capsulotomy. Notably, there were no observed cases of dislocation among patients who underwent the PAICO approach. We recommend this PAICO approach to surgeons using the posterior approach, hoping to prevent dislocation in bipolar hemiarthroplasty.