TAPERLOC FEMORAL COMPONENT - A 2-6-YEAR STUDY OF THE FIRST 100 CONSECUTIVE CASES

The first 100 consecutive patients who underwent insertion of the Tape rloc (Biomet, Warsaw, IN) femoral stem were prospectively studied with a mean followup period of 3.8 years (range, 2-6 years). Two of the or iginal 100 patients were lost, giving a 98% follow-up rate. The diagno ses included osteoarthritis (76 patients), avascular necrosis (19), rh eumatoid arthritis (3), chrondrolysis (1), and post-traumatic arthriti s (1). The mean age at surgery was 56 years (range, 25-79 years), mean weight was 78 kg (range, 45-127 kg), and the female to male ratio was 29:71. Charnley pain and function scores were 3.0 and 2.8 before surg ery and 5.5 and 5.4 after surgery. Thigh pain was present in 2% of the patients at the final follow-up evaluation. There were no revisions. Radiographic signs of bone-ingrowth fixation (calcar atrophy, spot wel ds) were seen in 92 of 94 components (98%). No component had complete demarcation of the porous-coated zones. Fifty-two of 94 patients were able to be matched for age, sex, weight, diagnosis, and length of foll ow-up period with a series of patients who received a contemporary cem ented total hip. In this matched subset, the Charnley pain and functio n scores were 5.6 and 5.5 for the cementless Taperloc stem and 5.7 and 5.5 for the cemented control group; this is not a significant differe nce. These data indicate a clinical performance equivalent to a matche d group of contemporary cemented total hip arthroplasties.