Highly Cross-Linked Polyethylene in Hip Resurfacing Arthroplasty: Long-Term Follow-up

Highly cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) has improved wear properties. This study reports the results of a small series of patients treated over 10 years ago with a metal-on-XLPE hip resurfacing.

A total of 21 hips in 20 patients received a hip resurfacing with a cobalt-chromium metal femoral head and metal-backed acetabular cup lined with a XLPE insert and were retrospectively studied. Kaplan-Meier Survivorship was calculated.

Five patients who had initial extreme cystic disease in the femoral head failed due to femoral loosening. Survivorship was 95.2% at 5 years and 81.0% at 10 years.

We found that XLPE wear was not implicated in these failures, which were primarily attributed to poor bone quality of the femoral head, early bone preparation, cementing technique and excessive head reaming to near the neck diameter, necessitated for the implantation of a thick two-part socket.