The Journey of an Ankylosed Hip: A 20 Year Long-Term Follow-up of an Hip Arthrodesis using Cobra Plate - The Present Day Relevance

Introduction: Hip fusion surgeries even though uncommon have shown good functional outcomes in patients and have its own advantages over arthroplasty.

Case report: In this case report, we present a 62-year-old female, who underwent right hip arthrodesis using Cobra plate when she was 42 years, with a long-term 20 years follow-up, leading a functionally normal life, good patient satisfaction with acceptable quality of life.

Discussion: Although hip fusion can limit the patient's range of motion, it confers the advantage of better and stable fixation, pain relief, and advantage of future conversion to hip arthroplasty if done within accepted limits.

Conclusion: Hip fusion surgeries have become very rare in recent times due to the advances made in arthroplasty surgeries. Literature evidences of long-term follow-up of hip arthroplasties are very few while hip fusion surgeries have a substantial literature evidence of showing good functional outcomes in patients.