Uncemented total hip arthroplasty with a tapered femoral component: a 22- to 26-year follow-up study

The goal of this study was to evaluate the outcome at a mean follow-up of 24.5 years (range, 22-26 years) of a consecutive series of 138 patients (145 hips) treated with total hip arthroplasty (THA) with the use of the Taperloc femoral component (Biomet, Warsaw, Indiana). This was an FDA-approved prospective study. All surgeries were performed by a single surgeon. Each of the 138 patients (145 hips) was followed annually until death, femoral component revision, or a minimum of 22 years. Complete clinical and radiographic follow-up was obtained on 95% of living patients at 5 years, and 100% at 10, 15, 20, and 24.5 years. Of the original series of 145 hips, only 1 femoral component (0.7%) had undergone revision for aseptic loosening, and 1 was loose by radiographic criteria (0.7%). Femoral osteolysis was identified in 8 hips (5.5%). A subset of 63 THAs in 56 patients was followed for a mean of 24.5 years. In this group, no femoral component required revision for aseptic loosening, and 1 was loose by radiographic criteria. Femoral osteolysis was present in 4 hips. Survivorship analysis of the femoral component with revision for aseptic loosening as the endpoint was 99% (95% confidence interval, 0.97-100) at 26 years. This stem demonstrates excellent fixation at a follow-up of 24.5 years with no apparent deterioration of the results with time.