Vascularized Lage-Napoli Hip Shelf Procedure: A New Technique

The difficulty of stabilizing hips with pathological dislocation or dysplasias, mainly in the sequelae of pyoarthritis where destruction of the head and neck of femur occurs with upward dislocation of the femur, is well known. In such cases, the stabilization methods for the hip are free bone grafts that often fail due to bone resorption and subsequent hip instability, and so arthrodesis is the only method of choice. Using our method good stabilization of the hip was achieved and mobility of the joint was preserved. In this series of 35 cases with a follow up of eight years after surgery, the Authors propose a new technique for the treatment of unstable hips with the use of a vascularized muscle pedicled bone graft. This technique can also be used in cases of Legg-Perthes disease, where the femoral head tends to partially dislocate.