Survivorship of modern total hip replacement to 30 years: systematic review, meta-analysis, and extrapolation of global joint registry data

Total hip replacement is a successful operation that aims to restore function and quality of life to millions of people globally. Knowing how long a total hip replacement might last is important for patients, surgeons, and health-care institutions for planning and resource allocation. Over the past 20 years, the use of contemporary bearing surfaces for total hip replacement has substantially altered implant wear and, possibly, longevity. To date, there has been no large-scale study that examines survivorship of these modern implants. We aimed to determine the survivorship of contemporary total hip replacements and bearing materials.

We focused solely on the assessment of modern bearing surfaces: highly cross-linked polyethylene versus metal or third-generation and fourth-generation ceramic heads and ceramic-on-ceramic primary total hip replacement in adult patients. We conducted a search of MEDLINE and Embase from database inception to June 13, 2024, including articles that reported a minimum of 10 years of survivorship, irrespective of fixation method or surgical approach. We then conducted a meta-analysis combining data from eight national joint registries assessing all-cause revision within the various bearing combinations. We extrapolated the extracted data to estimate survivorship to 30 years, using the multivariable random-effects model from the registry data. The primary outcome was survivorship of the hip replacement, defined as time from primary total hip replacement to first all-cause revision, expressed as a percentage of unrevised implants at specific timepoints. This study is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42024572518).

We identified 1 904 237 total hip arthroplasties across 29 clinical studies (n=5203) and eight national joint registries (n=1 899 034). Pooled analysis of the included studies showed an all-cause implant survivorship of 0·97 (0·96-0·98) under the random-effects model. Survivorship estimate based on joint registry data was at 93·6% (95% CI 92·3-94·7) at 20 years. Extrapolating these data indicates a predicted survivorship of 92·8% (91·2-94·2) at 25 years and 92·1% (90·1- 93·7) at 30 years.

The estimated 92% 30-year survivorship of contemporary total hip replacement suggests that advances in bearing surface technology have greatly improved the long-term durability of total hip replacements and might influence patient counselling, health-care planning, and device regulation.

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