The “glove” technique: a modified method for femoral fixation of antibiotic-loaded hip spacers

In the past few years hip spacers have become popular in the treatment of infected total hip arthroplasties (THAs), with reported infection eradication rates of > 90% (Anagnostakos et al. 2006). Two methods have been described for femoral fixation of a hip spacer. The spacer stem can be inserted into the femur either by a “press-fit” method, or by cementing onto the proximal femur (Anagnostakos et al. 2006). It is unclear which of these two methods provides superior fixation and thus acts better in the prevention of a spacer dislocation. In this report, we introduce a new technique for femoral fixation of an antibiotic-impregnated hip spacer.