Sugioka's transtrochanteric rotational osteotomy was performed on 14 hips (12 patients) before 1987 for avascular necrosis of the femoral head involving a large part of the weight-bearing area. Three hips required a secondary total hip arthroplasty within 5 years after the osteotomy. The remaining 11 hips were examined at a mean of 13.2 years after surgery (range, 10-17.7 years). The clinical and radiologic results were related to the preoperative radiographic stage of the disease. In the hips with less than 2 mm of collapse, highly satisfactory results were maintained more than 15 years after surgery, with minimal development of degenerative changes. In hips with 2 mm or more of collapse or with acetabular changes, the results tended to deteriorate gradually during the long course of observation but were fairly acceptable. This study shows the osteotomy can enable hip joints to survive and function well for more than 10 years with proper patient selection and operative procedure.

(C) 1999 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.