[Extensive resection of the hip for suppurative arthritis in the paraplegic. Evaluation of 170 cases].

Trochanteric or ischial sores in paraplegia may lead to suppurative arthritis of the hip, followed by anaerobic infection, septicaemia, gangrene and amyloidosis. In 121 patients this complication was bilateral in 49. Extensive resection of the hip and the upper quarter of the femur avoided surgical disarticulation of the limb. This type of correction makes it possible to treat hip infection and to perform muscle and skin plastic procedures. The operation was performed 170 times in the course of twenty years. Post-operative care must be very precise to allow organisation of the new arthrosis and to prevent ossification. Seven patients died. Five disarticulations had to be performed secondarily despite the resection. The results were satisfactory in the remaining patients from the point of view of suppuration and the procedure provided satisfactory adaptation to a wheelchair. Only five cases developed a disabling hip ankylosis.