Short-term survivorship of a novel acetabular component with a combination of non-locking and variable-angle locking screws in complex acetabular reconstruction

Background: Highly porous shells have been used with success to manage acetabular bone loss in complex (cTHA) and revision total hip arthroplasty (rTHA) for nearly 2 decades. Recently, a 3D-printed titanium shell with locking screw technology was developed. Our study sought to evaluate the survivorship of the novel variable-angle locking screw (VALS) acetabular component. Methods: This multicentre retrospective study analysed cTHA ( n = 61) and rTHA (n = 145) using the VALS component. 206 patients were included in the final analysis, with a mean age of 65.1 (range 15–95) years, mean BMI of 30.9 ± 7.3 kg/m 2 , and 60.2% women. Mean follow-up was 1.1 (range 0.1–5.1) years. The Kaplan-Meier analysis was utilised to assess implant survivorship and reoperation. Results: Of the 206 included cases, 20 were reoperations, 9 of which involved acetabular revision. The 1-year and 2-year acetabular component revision-free survivorship was 95 and 94%, and all-cause reoperation was 90 and 86%, respectively. Importantly, there were only 2 cases of aseptic acetabular loosening identified. Conclusions: The novel VALS component demonstrated encouraging early survivorship with a low incidence of complications when utilised in complex acetabular reconstruction. Further studies are warranted to assess long-term survivorship.