The Influence of Hip Rotation on Femoral Offset Following Short Stem Total Hip Arthroplasty

Short stem total hip arthroplasty (THA) is thought to be an advantageous surgical option for young patients. Femoral offset has been identified as an important factor for clinical outcome of THA. However, little is known on functional implications of femoral offset after short stem THA. Importantly, hip rotation influences the projected femoral offset and may lead to significant underestimation. Therefore, a novel method to identify and account for hip rotation was applied to a prospectively enrolled series of 37 patients (48 radiographs) undergoing short stem THA. Repeated measurements were performed and intraobserver and interobserver reliability was assessed and femoral offset was corrected for rotation. Based on this study, rotation-correction of femoral offset is of highest relevance for the correct interpretation in future studies.