Acetabular augmentation in primary and revision total hip arthroplasty with cementless prostheses.

Twenty-four consecutive cementless hip arthroplasties (13 autografts and 11 allografts) have been done in which large bone grafts were used to augment major acetabular deficiencies and have been followed for a minimum of 24 months with a mean of 34 and a maximum follow-up period of 55 months. The autograft augmentations were uniformly successful. Two fixation failures occurred in the allograft group. Considering the extreme deficiency in the acetabulae encountered and the absence of sufficient autograft material in this group of patients, the use of frozen allografts (although less successful in this series) seems justified. Graft resorption as determined by direct roentgenographic measurements was less than might be expected but may be a manifestation of the short-term follow-up period. Resorption, however, was greater in the allograft group and, when marked, was associated with fixation failure.