Outcomes of Ceramic-On-Ceramic Bearing Total Hip Arthroplasty: A Minimum 10-Year Follow-Up Study

Although the fourth generation of ceramics has demonstrated excellent clinical results 5 to 6 years postoperatively, concerns over ceramic fracture and squeaking persist and longer-term follow-up (minimum 10 years) studies are warranted. Our study aimed to evaluate the minimum 10-year clinical outcomes and bearing-specific complications of ceramic-on-ceramic (CoC) total hip arthroplasties.

We retrospectively evaluated all patients who underwent primary delta CoC total hip arthroplasty in our institution between January 2004 and February 2013. Demographics, surgical techniques, complications, patient-reported outcomes, and radiographic outcomes were collected and analyzed. For continuous variables, the comparison between groups was conducted using a one-way analysis of variance. Of all 235 patients included in the study, 70.5% were women (190 hips). The mean follow-up period was 12 years (range, 10 to 18). The femoral head sizes of 28- mm, 32 mm, and 36 mm were used in 50, 26, and 197 cases, respectively. Mean acetabular inclination and anteversion angles were 39.2 ± 7.1° and 14.9 ± 3.5°.

There were 5 hips revised at a mean 4.6 years (range, 0.1 to 7.1). One revision was squeaking-related. Squeaking was also reported by 8 other patients, but did not require revision. Other reasons for revision were early infection in 2 cases, stem loosening in 1 case, and stem fracture in 2 cases. The survival analysis for any causes for revision as an endpoint was 96.7% (95% confidence interval 0.313%-2.57%).

We report excellent mean 12-year follow-up results regarding the complications and survivorship of the fourth generation CoC bearings.