Intraoperative Dislocation of the Trial Femoral Head into the Pelvis During Total Hip Arthroplasty

Total hip arthroplasty has been employed successfully in the treatment of arthritic conditions of the hip1-8. Complications associated with this procedure have been discussed extensively in the literature9. We report an unusual complication of total hip arthroplasty, in which the trial femoral head became dislodged from the trial stem and migrated into the pelvis. The trial head could not be retrieved through the incision made for the total hip arthroplasty. We are unaware of any previously reported cases of intraoperative displacement of the trial femoral head into the pelvis.