Hip arthroplasty has been advocated as a salvage procedure after failed nailing of proximal femoral fractures. The aim of the current study was to evaluate chirurgical complications of hip arthroplasty after failed nailing of proximal femoral fractures. The second aim was to compare the complication profile of semiendoprosthesis (SEP) to that of total endoprosthesis (TEP).

There were 1,533 Gamma- or DHS-nailed proximal femoral fractures altogether at our institution during the study period 2000–2010. We reviewed the medical records of 51 hips in 50 patients with failed nailing of fracture followed by hip arthroplasty (3.3 % of all nailed proximal femoral fractures). The patients were identified retrospectively from a single academic institution’s computerized database.

There was at least one re-operation after arthroplasty in ten patients (20 %). Dislocation was the most common reason of the re-operation (six patients). The SEP and TEP groups did not differ significantly from each other with regard the re-operation rate (p = 0.72).

Failed arthroplasty is common after failed nailing of proximal femoral fractures