Stable Fixation but Unpredictable Bone Remodelling Around the Lord Stem

Early designs of uncemented hip implants turned out to be failures mainly because the prerequisites for durable implant fixation were unknown. One exception was the chrome–cobalt stem of the Madreporic Lord prosthesis. We prospectively studied this prosthetic design in 107 hips that underwent surgery in 1979–1986. At the last follow-up, five stems and 54 cups had been revised, corresponding to stem and cup survival rates of 92%±3% and 45%±5% at 26 years. In all, 66 hips with remaining Lord stems were available for clinical follow-up 26 years (24–29) after the index operation. The mean total Harris hip and pain scores were 81 (SD 14) and 41 (SD 5).