History of joint replacement

• The first cemented total hip replacement (THR) was performed on a human by Sir John Charnley in 1961 at the Wrightington Hospital at Standish. The first veterinary orthopedic implantation was in 1974 by Hoefle.
• The majority of early THRs in the dog used a fixed head femoral prosthesis and an acetabular component but, in 1990, a modular system consisting of separate femoral stem, femoral head and acetabular prostheses, was introduced and gained widespread use (BioMedtrix http://www.biomedtrix.com/).
• Original systems relied on bone cement to fix the femoral and acetabular implants in position but in human orthopedics, and more recently in the veterinary world, there has been increasing use of cementless systems. In these systems the implants are either pressed into position, or secured with screws, until bone grows into the porous coating of these implants to provide long-term stability.
• Advances in human joint replacement have led to systems for replacement of knee, shoulder, elbow, ankle, wrist and finger joints.
• In small animals, total elbow replacement (TER) has been recently developed and is now being performed in several centers across the world. Smaller implants  have become available for the BioMedtrix canine modular hip system allowing joint replacement in animals as small as cats and, very recently, a canine total knee replacement (TKR) system has been developed.

Total hip replacement

Total elbow replacement

Total knee replacement

Summary

Further Reading

Publications

Refereed papers

• Recent references from PubMed and VetMedResource.
• Farrell M, Clements D N, Mellor D et al (2007) Retrospective evaluation of the long-term outcome of non-surgical management of 74 dogs with clinical hip dysplasia. Vet Rec 160 (15), 506-511 PubMed.
• Liska W D, Marcellin-Little D J, Eskelinen E V et al (2007) Custom total knee replacement in a dog with femoral condylar bone loss. Vet Surg 36 (4), 293-301 PubMed.
• Tidwell S A, Graham J P, Peck J N et al (2007) Incidence of pulmonary embolism after non-cemented total hip arthroplasty in eleven dogs: computed tomographic pulmonary angiography and pulmonary perfusion scintigraphy. Vet Surg 36 (1), 37-42 PubMed.
• Pagenkopf E, Grose A, Partal G et al (2006) Acetabular fractures in the elderly: Treatment recommendations. HSS J 2, 161-171 PubMed.
• Conzemius M G, Vandervoort J (2005) Total joint replacement in the dog. Vet Clin N Am Sm Anim Pract 35 (5), 1213-1231 PubMed.
• Liptak J M, Pluhar G E, Dernell W S et al (2005) Limb-sparing surgery in a dog with osteosarcoma of the proximal femur. Vet Surg 34 (1), 71-77 PubMed.
• Scherrer W, Holsworth I, Goossens M et al (2005) Coxofemoral arthroscopy and total hip arthroplasty for management of intermediate grade fibrosarcoma in a dog. Vet Surg 34 (1), 43-46 PubMed.
• Conzemius M G, Aper R L, Corti L B (2003) Short-term outcome after total elbow arthroplasty in dogs with severe, naturally occurring osteoarthritis. Vet Surg 32 (6), 545-552 PubMed.
• Liska W D, Poteet B A (2003) Pulmonary embolism associated with canine total hip replacement. Vet Surg 32 (2), 178-186 PubMed.
• Palmisano M P, Dyce J, Olmstead M L (2003) Extraosseous cement granuloma associated with total hip replacement in 6 dogs. Vet Surg 32 (1), 80-90 PubMed.
• Schwarz T, Crawford P E, Owen M R et al (2001) Fatal pulmonary fat embolism during humeral fracture repair in a cat. JSAP 42 (4), 195-198 PubMed.
• Dyce J, Wisner E R, Wang Q et al (2000) Evaluation of risk factors for luxation after total hip replacement in dogs. Vet Surg 29 (6), 524-532 PubMed.
• Marcellin-Little D J, DeYoung D J, Thrall D E et al (1999) Osteosarcoma at the site of bone infarction associated with total hip arthroplasty in a dog. Vet Surg 28 (1), 54-60 PubMed.
• Edwards M R, Egger E L, Schwarz P D (1997) Aseptic loosening of the femoral implant after cemented total hip arthroplasty in dogs: 11 cases in 10 dogs (1991-1995). JAVMA 211 (5), 580-586 PubMed.
• DeYoung D J, DeYoung B A, Aberman H A et al (1992) Implantation of an uncemented total hip prosthesis. Technique and initial results of 100 arthroplasties. Vet Surg 21 (3), 168-177 PubMed.
• Barr A R S, Denny H R, Gibbs C (1987) Clinical Hip Dysplasia in Growing Dogs: the Long-Term Results of Conservative Management. JSAP 28 (4), 243-252 VetMedResource.
• Olmstead M L, Hohn R B, Turner T M (1983) A 5-Year Study of 221 Total Hip Replacements in the Dog. JAVMA 183 (2), 191-194 PubMed.