©2003 British Editorial Society of Bone and Joint Surgery

Most studies of revision for infected total hip arthroplasty (THA) have focused on control of the infection and pro-vided limited information about the functional outcome, although both aspects are equally important to the patient and the surgeon. Identifying the best means of achieving both goals requires comparison of one-stage and two-stage exchange arthroplasty of prostheses either fixed with antibi-otic-loaded cement or without cement, and evaluation of surgical techniques such as femorotomy, the implantation of a spacer and other methods. This review compares a recent report of 349 revision arthroplasties from various centres in France with previous studies. Control of infection and functional outcome Control of infection is usually achieved in more than 80 % o