Resurfacing is comparable to total hip arthroplasty at short-term follow-up.

UNLABELLED: Metal-on-metal total hip resurfacing arthroplasty has had excellent reported results at early to midterm followup, and some studies suggest that outcomes are comparable to conventional THA. We compared the clinical and radiographic outcomes of two closely matched groups of 54 patients who underwent resurfacing and conventional THA, respectively. Each group consisted of 36 men and 18 women who had a mean age of 52 years and a mean body mass index of 29 kg/m(2). At a minimum followup of 24 months (mean, 40 months; range, 24-60 months), the mean Harris hip scores increased similarly in both groups (from 52 to 90 points and from 50 to 91 points for the resurfacing and conventional groups, respectively). Radiographic outcomes, revision rates, complications, pain scores, and satisfaction ratings of the two groups were similar. The patients who underwent resurfacing had higher postoperative weighted activity scores than the patients who underwent conventional THA, although they had higher preoperative weighted activity scores as well. The early outcomes of resurfacing are comparable to those of conventional THA. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III, therapeutic study. See the Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.