Digital subtraction angiography in selection of the vascularized greater trochanter bone grafting for treatment of osteonecrosis of femoral head

The aim of this report is to present our experience on the use of the digital subtraction angiography (DSA) in selection of the vascularized greater trochanter bone grafting for the treatment of the osteonecrosis of femoral head (ONFH) in early stages. Between January 2005 and June 2007, DSA was used to evaluate the blood perfusion of the early stages ONFH in 32 patients (45 hips). There were 18 males and 14 females with an average age of 30 years old. Twenty-one hips were in ARCO stage I, and 24 in ARCO stage II. The arterial blood supply insufficiency was found in 22 hips by DSA, and the venous stasis in 23 hips. The hips with artery blood supply insufficiency received the vascularized greater trochanter bone grafting, and the hips with the venous stasis received the core decompression. All of patients were followed-up with an average of 4.8 years (ranging 2.4-6.6 years). The preoperative Harris Hip score (HHS) in the patients with arterial blood supply insufficiency was 48.18 ± 7.81 and the postoperative HHS was 93.27 ± 3.03. The preoperative HHS in the patients with venous stasis was 44.04 ± 6.40, and the postoperative HHS 92.65 ± .93. The postoperative DSA showed an improved perfusion of the femoral head in 44 hips. Our experience showed that DSA would help to select the appropriate procedure for treatment of ONFH in the early stage.