Retrieved total hip prostheses. Part I: the effects of cup thickness, head sizes and fusion defects on wear

The effects of polyethylene cup thickness, femoral head sizes (22, 28 and 32 mm) and fusion defects on wear were investigated on retrieved total hip prostheses. When the cup thickness was less than 9 mm, the larger the femoral head, the higher the linear wear rate; however, when the cup thickness was more than 9 mm, the larger the femoral head, the linear wear rate was lower. When the cup thickness was less than 11 mm, the volumetric wear rate increased with increasing size of the femoral head, and when it was more than 11 mm, the volumetric wear rate of the three kinds of the prosthetic cups approached the same values. The wear rate of the cross-linked cups irradiated by 100 Mrad were very low, with no correlation to cup thickness. When the cup thickness was less than 9 mm, the volumetric wear rate tended to increase with increasing number of fusion defects. Large diameter fusion defects diminished the tensile strength.