Blog

Recently, our study “An assessment of the gender-specific risk of implant revision following primary total hip arthroplasty: a systematic review and meta-analysis” was published in the Journal of Arthroplasty (Towle and Monnot 2016). Scientists at Cardno ChemRisk synthesized and examined the evidence on the relative risk of revision in men and women following primary total hip arthroplasty (THA). THA surgeries involve the replacement of damaged hip joints with prosthetic components in an effort to mitigate hip pain. Over time, some THA surgeries require revision due to various modes of failure, such as dislocation, infection, or aseptic loosening. A better understanding of factors that influence the risk of revision due to hip implant failure would help reduce post-surgery complications. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to examine if males or females are at a higher risk of revision.

Overall, findings suggested that males are at an increased risk of revision following THA when compared to females. Additionally, this study provided evidence that gender-specific risk of revision may be impacted by geographic location (i.e. United States and Europe) and time period of THA operation (i.e. post-2000). The authors discussed potential risk factors for revision among male hip implant patients, including differences in hip anatomy, degree of surgical trauma during surgery, level of physical activity following surgery, as well as differences in primary care provider interactions.

The abstract of the article is available here.  If you have any questions regarding the paper, please contact Kevin Towle or Andrew Monnot.