Background: The design of the Exeter stem may facilitate distal migration, but radiostereometric analysis (RSA) studies have been limited to 2 years of follow-up.
Patients and methods: We followed migration of the Exeter femoral stems in 22 primary hip arthroplasties for 5 years with RSA.
Results: All stems migrated distally and the median migration at 2 years was 1.34 mm, while at 5 years it was 1.77 mm. 7 stems migrated above accuracy between 3 and 5 years. (RSA) evaluation of the cement mantle could be performed in 14 cases, and in 5 slight migration was found. Most of the stems rotated towards retroversion and the median rotation at 2 years was 1.2 degrees, while at 5 years it was 1.6 degrees. We found 1 patient with impending clinical failure but no deviation in the RSA migration pattern, and 1 patient with unstable migration pattern but no clinical symptoms.
Interpretation: We found a greater distal migration of the Exeter stem for longer periods of time than seen with other types of cemented implants.
Copyright 2004 Taylor & Francis