Avascular Necrosis Leading to Total Hip Arthroplasty: An Incidence and Comorbidity Analysis in a Closed Urban Population

Avascular necrosis (AVN) results from a loss of intraosseous blood supply. And there is a range of causes and comorbidities, including trauma to the femoral head and neck, deep-sea diving, alcoholism, and having an HIV-positive diagnosis. AVN is a high-risk factor for total hip arthroplasty (THA) and there is a much higher prevalence of AVN in an underserved population like the one in our study. Understanding these results may lead to investigating AVN early. And then, communities with a high prevalence of HIV patients reporting hip pain should not be overlooked. We found that 58% were male, 24.5% of our THA’s were due to AVN, and 40.7% of our AVN patients had the diagnosis of HIV.