Bone Cement Implantation Syndrome is a rare but serious complication following operations involving the use of cement for prosthesis fixation. The POSSUM scoring system has been shown to be a reliable predictor for morbidity and mortality in Orthopaedic surgery and a useful audit tool to observe effects of different treatment strategies. We have applied this scoring system to 6 consecutive patients that underwent cemented hemiarthroplasty for fractured neck of femur and subsequently died directly as a consequence of complications arising from cementation.

The average predicted mortality using the POSSUM score on the 6 patients that died was 28% (range 12–52%). This is markedly higher than the average POSSUM predicted mortality of fractured neck of femur patients in other studies (9.1–15.6%).

Our results indicate that patients who died as a direct result of cement implantation have a higher predicted mortality rate using the POSSUM score. The scoring system can be used to help identify fractured neck of femur patients that are susceptible to reaction to the cement. This allows the surgeon to consider alternative surgical options, such as cementless prostheses, during pre-operative planning.