Mini THR for Young Adult Hip Disease

Active, high-demanding younger patients are the fastest growing segment of the hip replacement population. The increasing interest in bone-conserving designs has led, in the last decade, to the introduction of a number of smaller femoral components. In this chapter we summarize the current status of mini hip replacement, outline the reasons which drive the recent interest for smaller femoral implants, evaluate possible advantages over traditional total hip replacement and attempt to classify the different possible options. Because of the objective difficulties of cataloguing these implants according to biomechanical rationale and size we have gone for an anatomic classification based on three categories: femoral head designs, femoral neck designs and femoral metaphysis implants.