Short Stem vs. Standard Stem in Primary Total Hip Replacement: A Perioperative Prospective Invasiveness Study with Serum Markers

Background: Total hip arthroplasty (THA) is a well-established surgical procedure for end-stage hip arthrosis. Innovations such as minimally invasive approaches and new technologies have improved outcomes and reduced invasiveness. The introduction of short-stem prostheses, which offer potential benefits in bone preservation, has been a significant development in recent years. This prospective case series study aims to compare invasiveness of the short-stem (SS) and conventional-stem (CS) prostheses in THA with a posterolateral approach (PLA) by assessing perioperative serum markers. Methods: A prospective case series was conducted involving consecutive patients who underwent primary THA from January 2022 to December 2023. Demographics and preoperative, postoperative day 1 (POD1), and postoperative day 2 (POD2) serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), procalcitonin (PCT), and white blood cells (WBCs) were measured. Results: The study included 21 patients with CS and 19 with SS, with no significant differences between groups in demographic. No statistically significant differences were found in serum markers between SS and CS groups at any time point. Both groups showed significant increases in ESR, CRP, and PCT from preoperative levels to POD2 (p < 0.001), while WBC values increased from preoperative to POD1 but decreased between POD1 and POD2. Conclusion: The short-stem prosthesis does not exhibit significantly different perioperative serum marker profiles compared to the conventional stem, suggesting similar levels of surgical invasiveness between the two implants. Further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to validate these findings and explore other aspects of short-stem THA.