Increased risk of intraoperative and early postoperative periprosthetic femoral fracture with compaction compared with broaching in cementless THA: a single-center study of 6,788 hips.

Background and purpose:  Periprosthetic femoral fracture (PFF) is a significant complication of total hip arthroplasty (THA). Although biomechanical studies have indicated that the technique by which the femoral canal is prepared plays a role, few clinical studies have reported on how this might affect the fracture risk. This study compares the fracture risk between compaction and broaching with toothed instruments in cementless THA.

Methods: Prospectively collected data from the quality register of a high-volume hospital was used. All primary arthroplasties using the Corail stem (DePuy Synthes) were included. All femoral fractures occurring within the first 90 days after the operation were included in the analysis. We determined the relative risk of sustaining PFF with compaction compared with broaching and adjusted for confounders (sex, age group, BMI, and use of a collared stem) using multivariable Poisson regression.

Results:  6,788 primary THAs performed between November 2009 and May 2023 were available for analysis. 66% were women and the mean age was 65.0 years. 129 (1.9%) fractures occurred during the first 90 days after the operation, 92 (2.3%) in the compaction group and 37 (1.3%) in the broaching group. The unadjusted relative risk of fracture in the compaction group compared with the broaching group was 1.82 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.25-2.66), whereas the adjusted relative risk was 1.70 (CI 1.10-2.70).

Conclusion: Compaction was associated with more periprosthetic fractures than broaching (2.3% versus 1.3%) within 90 days after surgery.