In a study, researchers found thigh girth contributed to hip instability in morbidly obese patients, which increased the risk of hip implant dislocation. In response, researchers engineered and tested varying hip implants and their performance in different body types.
The researchers found three main findings:
1) Thigh soft tissue impingement increased the risk of dislocation for BMIs of 40 or greater
2) Implants with a larger femoral head diameter did not substantially improve joint stability
3) Using an implant with a high-offset femoral stem decreased the dislocation risk.
The researchers concluded surgeons can use these findings to perform safer hip replacement surgery on obese patients.
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