Background and purposeThe loss of bone mineral in the proximal femur following hip arthroplasty may increase the fracture risk around uncemented stems. We hypothesized that the surgical approach to the hip might influence bone mineral changes around the femoral stem in patients with a femoral neck fracture (FNF).Patients and methodsThis was a pre-specified subgroup analysis (n = 51) of an ongoing randomized trial (n = 120) in patients with FNF. Participants were allocated to an uncemented hemiarthroplasty inserted through a direct lateral (Hardinge) approach or an anterolateral (modified Watson-Jones) approach. The 51 patients (mean age 83 (70–90) years, 33 women) were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) to assess changes in periprosthetic bone mineral density (BMD).ResultsThe mean change in total BMD differed between groups at 12 months in favor of the anterolateral group (4.8%, 95% CI 0.0–9.6; p = 0.05). DXA at 3 months displayed BMD loss in the proximal Gruen zones in the lateral group compared with the anterolateral group. Zone 1 (–5.0% vs. 2.7%), zone 2 (–4.3% vs. 4.1%), zone 6 (–6.5% vs. 0.0%) and zone 7 (–11% vs. –2.4%, all p < 0.05).InterpretationDXA measurements in this study indicate that surgical approach to the hip influences periprosthetic BMD. Clinical implications remain uncertain. Our conclusions should be interpreted with caution as we did not perform adjustments for multiple tests, possibly leading to inflation of false-positive findings.

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02028468.

Aims The aim of this randomized trial was to compare the functional outcome of two different surgical approaches to the hip in patients with a femoral neck fracture treated with a hemiarthroplasty. Patients and Methods A total of 150 patients who were treated between February 2014 and July 2017 were included. Patients were allocated to undergo hemiarthroplasty using either an anterolateral or a direct lateral approach, and were followed for 12 months. The mean age of the patients was 81 years (69 to 90), and 109 were women (73%). Functional outcome measures, assessed by a physiotherapist blinded to allocation, and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) were collected postoperatively at three and 12 months. Results A total of 11 patients in the direct lateral group had a positive Trendelenburg test at one year compared with one patient in the anterolateral group (11/55 (20%) vs 1/55 (1.8%), relative risk (RR) 11.1; p = 0.004). Patients with a positive Trendelenburg test reported significantly worse Hip Disability Osteoarthritis Outcome Scores (HOOS) compared with patients with a negative Trendelenburg test. Further outcome measures showed few statistically significant differences between the groups. Conclusion The direct lateral approach in patients with a femoral neck fracture appears to be associated with more positive Trendelenburg tests than the anterolateral approach, indicating a poor clinical outcome. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2019;101-B:793–799.