Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Disuse osteoporosis in patients with total hip prostheses

  • Original Articles
  • Published:
Archives of orthopaedic and traumatic surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

Aseptic loosening of total hip arthroplasty is still a serious problem. Bone qualitiy might be one of the major factors influencing loosening. In a previous study, bone loss during the reparation phase was evaluated with modified computed tomography at the site of the implant. The present study documents the degree of disuse osteoporosis prior to and after surgery. Bone density of both tibiae of patients with unilateral artificial hip joints was evaluated longitudinally. Preoperatively a significant right-left difference was found, that has to be attributed to the preoperative unloading of the diseased leg. After surgery a slight but significant bone loss was found in both legs attributable to the immobilization following surgery and the reduced activity in the first 6 months. In successfully operated cases this loss is temporary. In one patient bone loss continued; after 1 year there are now clinical signs of implant loosening. Although the spectrum of physical activity in our group was wide, no correlation between activity and bone loss has been found so far.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Dambacher MA, Ittner J, Rüegsegger P (1986) Long-term fluoride therapy of postmenopausal osteoporosis. Metab Bone Dis Relat Res (in press)

  2. Donaldson CL, Hulley SB, Vogel JM, Hattner RS, Bayers JH, McMillan DG (1970) Effect of prolonged bed rest on bone mineral. Metabolism 19:1071–1084

    Google Scholar 

  3. Dubs L, Gschwend N, Munzinger U (1983) Sport after total hip arthroplasty. Arch Orthop Trauma Surg 101:161–169

    Google Scholar 

  4. Elsasser U, Rüegsegger P, Anliker M, Exner GU, Prader A (1979) Loss and recovery of trabecular bone in the distal radius following fracture immobilization of the upper limb in children. Klin Wochenschr 57:763–767

    Google Scholar 

  5. Krolner B, Toft B (1983) Vertebral bone loss: an unheeded side effect of therapeutic bed rest. Clin Sci 64:537–540

    Google Scholar 

  6. Minaire P, Meunier P, Edouard B, Bernard J, Coupron P, Bourret J (1974) Quantitative histological data on disuse osteoporosis. Calcif Tissue Res 17:57–73

    Google Scholar 

  7. Miner A, Rüegsegger P, Seitz P (1985) Optimal CT-settings for bone evaluations. Phys Med Biol 30:120–128

    Google Scholar 

  8. Rambaut PC, Smith MC, Mack PB, Vogel JM (1975) Skeletal response. In: Biomedical results of APOLLO. NASA SP-368:303–322

  9. Rüegsegger P, Anliker M, Dambacher M (1981) Quantification of trabecular bone with low-dose computed tomography. J Comput Assist Tomogr 5:384–390

    Google Scholar 

  10. Rüegsegger P, Dambacher MA, Rüegsegger E, Fischer JA, Anliker M (1984) Bone loss in premenopausal and postmenopausal women. A cross-sectional and longitudinal study using quantitative computed tomography. J Bone Joint Surg [Am] 66:1015–1023

    Google Scholar 

  11. Rüegsegger P, Medici TC, Anliker M (1983) Corticosteroid-induced bone loss. A longitudinal study of alternate day therapy in patients with bronchial asthma using quantitative computed tomography. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 25:615–620

    Google Scholar 

  12. Seitz P (1984) Computertomographische Osteodensitometrie beim metallischen Kunstgelenk. PhD Dissertation No. 7587, Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich

    Google Scholar 

  13. Seitz P, Rüegsegger P (1982) Anchorage of femoral implants visualized by modified computed tomography. Arch Orthop Trauma Surg 100:261–266

    Google Scholar 

  14. Seitz P, Rüegsegger P (1983) Fast contour detection algorithm for high-precision quantitative CT. IEEE Trans on Medical Imaging MI-2:136–141

    Google Scholar 

  15. Seitz P, Rüegsegger P (1985) Reconstructions from incomplete projections in the framework of linear operators in normed linear spaces. J Opt Soc Am A2:1667–1676

    Google Scholar 

  16. Seitz P, Rüegsegger P (1985) CT bone densitometry of the anchorage of artificial knee joints. J Comput Assit Tomogr 9:607–608

    Google Scholar 

  17. Stebler B, Rüegsegger P (1983) Kleincomputertomograph fur quantitative Knochenuntersuchungen in den Extremitaten des Menschen. Biomed Tech 28:196–205

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Moussonstr. 18, CH-8044, Zurich, Switzerland

    P. Rüegsegger & P. Seitz

  2. Orthopaedic Clinic Wilhelm Schulthess, Neumünsterallee 3, CH-8008, Zürich, Switzerland

    N. Gschwend & L. Dubs

Authors
  1. P. Rüegsegger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. P. Seitz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. N. Gschwend
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. L. Dubs
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rüegsegger, P., Seitz, P., Gschwend, N. et al. Disuse osteoporosis in patients with total hip prostheses. Arch. Orth. Traum. Surg. 105, 268–273 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00449924

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00449924

Keywords

Search

Navigation