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Patient Education: Total Hip Replacement |
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Ceramic, Metal, Polyethylene Among the most important questions to patients and surgeons alike is "How long will my new hip last?" In the past hips often loosened and became painful because the cement that bonded them to the bone failed. With advances in technology including cementless hips and better cement techniques for cemented hips, the incidence of this loosening has decreased remarkably. The weakness in the system now is the actual surface on which the hip ball moves. Traditionally total hips have used a metal (cobalt chrome) ball moving in a plastic (polyethylene) socket. The constant motion of the ball wore down the socket surface. Over years of use, eventually the socket might wear out and need to be replaced. The number of years this took depended on the weight and activity level of the patient. Ten to fifteen years was a fair estimate of the time to repeat surgery. Newer technologies offer the promise of higher performance and longer lifespan for the hip replacement. The new choices include: • Improved more durable plastic (polyethylene) sockets • Ceramic femoral heads that cause less damage and wear to the polyethylene socket • Low friction low wear metal to metal sockets and hip balls • Low friction low wear ceramic to ceramic sockets and hip balls Some of the devices that might take advantage of these newer technologies are still in the investigative phase. All have distinct advantages and disadvantages. The choice of technology should be individualized for each patient. |
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