Medium to long term follow up of a consecutive series of 604 Exeter Trauma Stem Hemiarthroplasties (ETS) for the treatment of displaced intracapsular femoral neck fractures

The aim of this study was to evaluate the medium to long term follow up results for the Exeter Trauma Stem (ETS) in the treatment of displaced femoral neck fractures. We retrospectively evaluated 604 consecutive cemented ETS hemiarthroplasties performed at our institution between 2007 and 2012. The range of follow up was 2–7 years with a mean follow-up of 4.1 years for the surviving patients. The mean age of the patient population was 84 years (range 46–106) with 81.3% female patients. 382 patients (63.2%) died within the follow up period. Postoperative superficial soft tissue infection occurred in 11 patients and deep prosthetic infection in 5 patients. Dislocation occurred in 11 patients and periprosthetic fracture occurred in 7 patients. 11 patients underwent Girdlestone excision arthroplasty and 6 patients were revised to total hip replacement. This paper represents the largest consecutive series for this implant, with the longest follow up currently available. The results confirm that the prosthesis is an excellent implant for these patients with a low risk of needing revision surgery.