Differences in hip morphology between the sexes in patients undergoing hip resurfacing

There is limited morphological data on the sex differences between the commonly used pelvic parameters. This study analysed the CT scans of 100 consecutive Caucasian patients, 61 males and 39 females, undergoing hip resurfacing arthroplasty surgery for hip osteoarthritis in one institution.

There were no sex differences in femoral torsion/anteversion, femoral neck angle and acetabular inclination. Males had a mean femoral torsion/anteversion of 8 degrees (range -5 to 26 degrees), a mean femoral neck angle of 129 degrees (range 119 to 138 degrees) and a mean acetabular inclination of 55 degrees (range 40 to 86 degrees). Females had a mean femoral torsion/anteversion of 9 degrees (range -2 to 31 degrees), a mean femoral neck angle of 128 degrees (range 121 to 138) and a mean acetabular inclination of 57 degrees (range 44 to 80 degrees). Females had a significantly greater acetabular version of 23 degrees (range 10 to 53) compared with 18 degrees in males (range 7 to 46 degrees (p = 0.02) and males had a significantly greater femoral offset of 55 mm (range 42 to 68 mm) compared with 48 mm (range 37 to 57 mm) in females (p = 0.00). There were no significant differences between measurements taken from each patient’s right and left hips.

These findings may be useful for the future design and the implantation of hip arthroplasty components.