Wear and loosening of the hip prosthesis. A roentgen stereophotogrammetric 3-year study of 14 cases.

Fourteen patients were followed by roentgen stereophotogrammetry for 3 years after hip arthroplasty. In 11 of the 14 acetabular components, definite wear was identified. The mean wear rate was 0.13 mm per year. There was no correlation between the wear and loosening of either the acetabular or the femoral component. Our findings indicate that products of wear do not initiate prosthetic loosening.