Girdlestone Arthroplasty

Before understanding this Surgical procedure , one needs to know the maifestations of Pressure Sores or Pressure Ulcers .

Pressure Ulcers - Pressure over Bony prominences is called  Pressure sore which leads to Pressure Ulcers.  These are Lesions which proceed to effect the Skin as well in future stages.

The affected part of the bone is  usually removed in such cases .

Femoral Head Osteomyelitis - In this disease , the Femur head is removed due to it getting infected. The first  known case of  Femoral head ostectomy (removal of femur head) was performed by Robert Girdlestone.

Whenever a part of a bone is removed ,  reconstruction is required , especially if the structure excised is associated with a joint.

Arthroplasty means Formation of a joint.

In  the  case of Femoral Head Ostectomy , Arthroplasty is done by the Vastus Lateralis Muscle.

The Insertion of the  Vastus Lateralis Muscle  is removed in the form of a Myocutaneous Flap and is used to reconstruct and reinforce the Hip joint . 

 The muscle is wound around the Hip joint as shown in the figure above. 

The association of Robert Girdlestone with this procedure gave rise to the term Girdlestone Arthroplasty.

This procedure is sometimes followed to treat Trochanteric  Pressure Sores.