Historical Review

Abstract

The history of hip arthrodesis (HA) begins in the second half of the nineteenth century with the hip resection operations of Margary (1883, Italy), Heusner (1884, Germany) and Lampugnani (1885, Italy) which were carried out in cases of congenital dislocation of the hip. However, the retention of a degree of mobility was intended in these procedures. This is in complete contrast to the procedure carried out by Lagrange (1886, France) who as far as is known was the first to attempt arthrodesis in a 16-year-old girl with dislocation and unspecific arthritis of the hip. The dislocated head was restored to the acetabulum and fixed with wires. Although the head of the femur did not redislocate, the desired ankylosis failed to occur and, one concludes from the case report, the procedure resulted in the first pseudarthrosis (PA) of an HA. In the English-speaking world, Albee (1908, United States) is regarded as the father of HA. In the German-speaking world this honor is accorded to Albert (1887, Austria), and in the French-speaking world, to Daraignez (1891, France) (Fig. 1).