Polyethylene wear of the porous-coated anatomic total hip arthroplasty with an average 11-year follow-up.

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that affect polyethylene wear of 55 porous-coated anatomic total hip arthroplasties after 9 to 14 years selected from a study population of 311 implants. The average three-dimensional linear, two-dimensional linear, and volumetric wear rates were 0.096 mm/y, 0.052 mm/y, and 34 mm3/y. Negative wear was noted in 7 patients using two-dimensional techniques. Significantly higher volumetric wear rate was observed for men (48 mm3/y) compared with women (24 mm3/y; P<.01), for patients <60 years old (45 mm3/y) compared with patients >60 years old (25 mm3/y; P<.01), and for 32-mm femoral heads (54 mm3/y) compared with 26-mm femoral heads (29 mm3/y; P<.01). Volumetric wear rate for patients having small (39 mm3/y) and large (65 mm3/y) areas of osteolysis were 2 and 3 times greater than for patients having no osteolysis (21 mm3/y) (P<.01).