Bone allografts were used to reconstruct deficient acetabular and
femoral bone in eighteen patients during two-stage revision of a hip
arthroplasty that had failed due to infection. At a mean of 4.2 years after
reimplantation, only two patients had had recurrence of the infection. Four
patients needed another revision arthroplasty for reasons other than
infection. These results suggest that allografts of bone are useful for the
reconstruction of osseous deficiencies in carefully selected patients who
have a hip arthroplasty after infection. The results do not support the
concern that allografts that are used under these circumstances necessarily
lead to a high rate of recurrence of infection. However, the long-term
results of the use of allografts in hip arthroplasty after infection remain
unknown.