Figure 4

A case of a broken stem with a well-fixed proximal part. A 69-year-old female patient had an Autophor 900S stem implanted 15 years ago. This stem is entirely porous coated and has proximally two fenestrations for better anchoring. The arthroplasty became painful and an anteroposterior radiograph revealed a fatigue fracture of the middle of the stem. The distal part of the prosthesis seems firmly attached to the bone, whereas the stability of the proximal half is uncertain. During operation, this part could not be removed with standard techniques. Taking into account that distally the prosthesis is quadrilateral in cross section, it was decided to be revised with segmentation of the proximal femur.