Hip replacement wear under examination

The wear rates of ceramic-on-metal (CoM) bearings in total hip replacement are similar to those for metal-on-metal (MoM) bearings, a new study has shown.

Research in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery examined the wear rate of CoM bearings in hip replacements after one million cycles.

The researchers measured whole blood metal ion levels and the median increase in chromium and cobalt at 12 months was 0.08 µg/1 and 0.22 µg/1 up respectively, which was found to be lower that MoM bearing in total hip replacements.

Also examined as part of the study was the explanted ceramic heads, which had revealed areas of thin metal transfer before CoM bearings were tested in a hip range of motion joint simulator.

"The explanted head and acetabular component had higher bedding-in. However, after one million cycles all the wear rates were the same and an order of magnitude less than that reported for MoM bearings," wrote the researchers.

A recent study presented at the European Federation of National Associations of Orthopaedics and Traumatology Congress in Italy claimed that periprosthetic bone resorption and wear debris could be symptoms of failure in ceramic-on-ceramic hip replacements.

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