Does a fixed offset hemiarthroplasty implant have any effect on pain and function in patients with a femoral neck fracture?

Hip hemiarthroplasty is the commonest operation performed for a displaced intracapsular hip fracture in the UK. A variety of implants including fixed offset prostheses are utilised. There has been no study investigating the relationship between restoration of femoral offset and long term pain and function. This study aims to evaluate long-term pain and functional outcomes of a fixed offset hemiarthroplasty implant (the Exeter trauma system). All patients were retrospectively reviewed from a prospectively collected database. In all, 338 patients met the criteria for evaluation. Patients native offset were calculated from the contralateral hip. Pain and functional outcomes were assessed using validated outcome measures. There were no differences found across a range of natural offsets for long-term pain and functional recovery. Our experience with the Exeter trauma system suggests that a 40 mm offset implant is a good standard offset to use.