Femoral Neck Stress Shielding after Birmingham Mid Head Resection Hip Arthroplasty – Case Report and Literature Review

We describe the presentation of substantial neck thinning due to stress shielding about a well-fixed Birmingham Mid Head Resection femoral implant. Despite significant resorption of proximal peri-articular bone adjacent to the modular femoral head, secondary bone remodeling about the implant stem and proximal femur has occurred and stress shielding has appeared to stabilize, resulting in a satisfactory clinical outcome to date. For total hip arthroplasty utilizing short femoral implants we recommend consideration of alternative design stems to reduce the risk of stress shielding.