Dr. Della Valle receives the Hip Society’s Frank Stinchfield Award

Dr. Della Valle was recently awarded the Hip Society’s Frank Stinchfield Award. The prestigious award is given annually to recognize research that demonstrates an outstanding contribution concerning hip problems. Dr. Della Valle received the award for his study to determine whether the femoral head size affects dislocation rates among patients undergoing revision hip arthroplasty.

Dr. Della Valle and his colleagues followed 184 patients from seven different centers for two to five years after surgery. Half of the patient group had 32mm femoral head implants, while the other half had 36/40mm femoral head implants. Those patients within the larger femoral head group demonstrated a dislocation rate of 1.1% versus an 8.7% dislocation rate among those with the smaller femoral head size.

The study found that a large femoral head can significantly reduce dislocation rates in patients undergoing revision total hip, without increasing linear polyethylene wear or decreasing quality-of-life outcomes. As a result the authors now routinely use large femoral heads with a highly cross-linked polyethylene acetabular liner in all revision hip arthroplasty procedures.