The fallen wire sign. An indicator of hip prosthetic loosening.

Abstract

Trochanteric osteotomy is commonly performed during total hip arthroplasty. Subsequent fatigue fracture of the osteotomy wires, although common, usually has no clinical sequelae. In four cases, wire fragments migrated down the medullary cavity of the femur, in the space created by a loosened femoral component. This roentgenographic observation seems not to have been previously reported and is a definitive sign of femoral prosthesis loosening.