My personal experience in the operative surgery of the hip joint extends over more than twenty years, and comprises more than 100 operations; these are summarized in table 1. Of these, eighty-six were in the nature of reparative or reconstructive operations, while only seventeen can be classed as destructive, such as those listed as "excision," for acute osteomyelitis or for tuberculosis with secondary infection. I have omitted amputations at the hip joint.
It is my purpose to discuss: (1) the indications for the various operative procedures, (2) the technic of the operations and (3) the results.
INDICATIONS FOR THE VARIOUS OPERATIVE PROCEDURES
Arthrodesis.
—Arthrodesis is the operative production of ankylosis, in the effort to improve function. Its main indication is found in cases of flail-joint due to anterior poliomyelitis. Fortunately, there are not many patients in whom residual paralysis leaves one or both hips in a flail-like condition, and even