Fracture of the neck of a lateral flare femoral implant in total hip arthroplasty

We present the case of a 38-year-old man who presented 7 years after primary total hip replacement with a fracture of the neck of a lateral flare femoral stem and catastrophic polyethylene wear. The unique design of the lateral flare hip stem has been shown previously to be associated with accelerated polyethylene wear, whereas the stem remains well fixed. The resultant polyethylene wear results in the harder cobalt chrome head abrading the titanium shell generating metallic debris. This may have resulted in proximal migration of the implant neck into the cup with subsequent neck-cup impingement and implant fracture.