Comparison of Acetabular Bone Resection, Offset, Leg Length and Post Operative Function Between Hip Resurfacing Arthroplasty and Total Hip Arthroplasty

Controversy exists regarding the amount of acetabular bone resection, biomechanics and function of patients receiving either total hip arthroplasty (THA) or hip resurfacing arthroplasty (HRA). A cohort of patients undergoing 36 mm ceramic-on-ceramic THA (89) or metal-on-metal HRA (86) were compared. No difference was observed when the ratio of native femoral head size was compared to the implanted acetabular component size (1.15±0.1 HRA c.f. 1.13±0.1 THA). No difference was observed in acetabular offset, vertical centre of rotation or function (OHS mean 47 in both groups) but leg length discrepancy (1.8 mm c.f. 5.5 mm) and femoral offset did differ (0.6 mm c.f. 4.1 mm). This demonstrates that 36 mm ceramic-on-ceramic THA is not associated with more bone resection than HRA and achieves equivalent function whilst avoiding the problems of metal-on-metal bearings.