and Conventional Polyethylene Against a Zirconia Femoral Head

Minimum 5-Year Follow-Up

Kiyokazu Fukui, MD, PhD, Ayumi Kaneuji, MD, PhD, Tanzo Sugimori, MD, PhD, Toru Ichiseki, MD, PhD, Kenji Kitamura, MD, PhD, and Tadami Matsumoto, MD, PhD

The Journal of Arthroplasty Vol. 26 No. 1 2011

Abstract: Highly cross-linked polyethylene (HXLPE) was developed to reduce wear of articular bearing surface in total hip arthroplasty patients. Several studies have shown reduced wear of HXLPE compared with conventional polyethylene; however, these studies had used HXLPE in combination with a Co-Cr metal head. The purpose of this study was to compare the 5-year in vivo wear of HXLPE with that of conventional PE using a zirconia femoral head. Forty-five hips with a Trilogy HXLPE (Zimmer, Warsaw, Ind) were matched and compared with a control group of 20 conventional Trilogy PE hips. The 2-dimensional linear wear rate was significantly less in the HXLPE group between 1 and 5 years postoperation (P b .001). The results show that HXLPE reduces shortterm polyethylene wear against not only a Co-Cr head but also a zirconia head.