Corrosion Concerns? Trends in Metal-on-Polyethylene Total Hip Arthroplasty Revision Rates and Comparisons Against Ceramic-on-Polyethylene up to 10 Years of Follow-Up

We compared the revision risk between metal-on-polyethylene (MOP) and ceramic-on-polyethylene (COP) total hip arthroplasty patients and evaluated temporal changes in short-term revision risks for MOP patients.

Primary MOP (n = 9480) and COP (n = 3620) total hip arthroplasties were evaluated from the Medicare data set (October 2005 to December 2015) for revision risk, with up to 10 years of follow-up using multivariate analysis. Temporal change in the short-term revision risk for MOP was evaluated (log-rank and Wilcoxon tests).

Revision incidence was 3.8% for COP and 4.3% for MOP. MOP short-term revision risk did not change over time ( P ≥ .844 at 1 year and .627 at 2 years). Dislocation was the most common reason for revision (MOP: 23.5%; COP: 24.8%). Overall adjusted revision risks were not different between MOP and COP up to 10 years of follow-up ( P ≥ .181).

Concerns with corrosion for metal heads do not appear to result in significantly elevated revision risk for MOP at up to 10 years. Corrosion does not appear as a primary reason for revision compared to other mechanisms.