Short-term survivorship of a novel acetabular component with a combination of non-locking and variable-angle locking screws in complex acetabular reconstruction.

Abstract

Highly porous shells have been used with success to manage acetabular bone loss in complex (cTHA) and revision total hip arthroplasty (rTHA) for nearly 2 decades. Recently, a 3D-printed titanium shell with locking screw technology was developed. Our study sought to evaluate the survivorship of the novel variable-angle locking screw (VALS) acetabular component. This multicentre retrospective study analysed cTHA (<i>n</i> = 61) and rTHA <i>(n</i> = 145) using the VALS component. 206 patients were included in the final analysis, with a mean age of 65.1 (range 15-95) years, mean BMI of 30.9 ± 7.3 kg/m², and 60.2% women. Mean follow-up was 1.1 (range 0.1-5.1) years. The Kaplan-Meier analysis was utilised to assess implant survivorship and reoperation. Of the 206 included cases, 20 were reoperations, 9 of which involved acetabular revision. The 1-year and 2-year acetabular component revision-free survivorship was 95 and 94%, and all-cause reoperation was 90 and 86%, respectively. Importantly, there were only 2 cases of aseptic acetabular loosening identified. The novel VALS component demonstrated encouraging early survivorship with a low incidence of complications when utilised in complex acetabular reconstruction. Further studies are warranted to assess long-term survivorship.