Single Stage Simultaneous Core Decompression for Ficat Stage I and II Bilateral Femoral Head Osteonecrosis among Hip Surgeries done in a Tertiary Care Centre: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study.

INTRODUCTION: Osteonecrosis of femoral head is a disease affecting young individuals and often occurs in bilateral hips. The purpose of this study is to find out the prevalence of single stage simultaneous core decompression for Ficat stage I and II bilateral femoral head osteonecrosis among total hip surgeries done in a tertiary care center.

METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary care trauma centre from April 2017 and March 2020. Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Committee prior to data collection (Reference no: 673/2077/78). Convenience sampling was done. Patients undergoing hip surgeries were included in the study. Patients with missing data were excluded. Patients operated upto Ficat Stage IIb femoral head osteonecrosis were followed up. Data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 22.0. Point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and percentage for binary data.

RESULTS: Out of 916 patients who underwent hip surgeries, 12 (1.31%) (0.57-2.04 at 95% Confidence Interval) underwent single stage simultaneous core decompression. Idiopathic cause in 6 (50%) and prolonged corticosteroid usage in 4 (33.33%) were the leading causes. Twelve (50%) of the treated hips were in Ficat stage IIa. At the end of one year, of the 11 patients who followed up, 12 (54.5%) hips had a good Harris hip outcome.

CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that a small proportion of hip surgeries were single stage simultaneous bilateral core decompression for osteonecrosis of femoral head in our setting. Our findings were similar to studies done internationally with a very low complication rate.