Background: This study investigated the radiological factors that correlated with progression of collapse and joint space narrowing after transtrochanteric posterior rotational osteotomy (PRO) for osteonecrosis of the femoral head.
Methods: This study reviewed 51 hips in 47 patients with a mean follow-up of 11 years (5-20). The subjects included 29 males and 18 females with a mean age of 34 years (12-54) at the time of surgery. The 51 hips were divided into two groups based on the radiological outcome (group I: evidence of progression of collapse and/or joint space narrowing, group II: no evidence of either progression of collapse or joint space narrowing). Both clinical and radiological factors were analyzed by both univariate and multivariable analyses.
Results: Six hips were categorized as group I and 45 hips were categorized as group II. The postoperative intact ratio and preoperative stage were significantly correlated with the radiological outcome in both univariate (P < 0.0001, P = 0.006) and multivariate (P = 0.0014, P = 0.0039) analysis. The cutoff point for the postoperative intact ratio (the minimum ratio required to prevent both progression of collapse and joint space narrowing) was 36.8 %.
Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that the postoperative intact ratio is one of the main influences on progression of collapse and/or joint space narrowing after PRO, and should be at least 36.8 %. An increased awareness of this critical ratio would be useful for planning the optimal use of this procedure.