Case report

Neck fracture of a cementless forged titanium alloy femoral stem following total hip arthroplasty: a case report and review of the literature

Theodoros B Grivas , Olga D Savvidou , Spyridon A Psarakis , Pierre-Francois Bernard , George Triantafyllopoulos , Ioannis Kovanis and Panagiotis Alexandropoulos

Orthopaedic Department, "Thriasio" General Hospital, G. Gennimata Avenue, Magula, 19600, Greece

author email corresponding author email

Journal of Medical Case Reports 2007, 1:174doi:10.1186/1752-1947-1-174

Published:	6 December 2007

Abstract

Introduction

Fractures of the neck of the femoral component have been reported in uncemented total hip replacements, however, to our knowledge, no fractures of the neck of a cementless forged titanium alloy femoral stem coated in the proximal third with hydroxy-apatite have been reported in the medical literature.

Case presentation

This case report describes a fracture of the neck of a cementless forged titanium alloy stem coated in the proximal third with hydroxy-apatite.

Conclusion

The neck of the femoral stem failed from fatigue probably because of a combination of factors described analytically below.