Revision for aseptic stem loosening using the cemented Charnley prosthesis. A review of 351 hips.

We reviewed 351 cemented revisions of femoral stems performed for aseptic loosening. At a mean of six years after the revision operation 72.1% of the patients were pain-free and 21.4% had only mild or occasional discomfort. The latest radiographs showed definite stem loosening in 10 (2.8%) and 20 hips (5.7%) had required rerevision, only nine (2.6%) of which were for mechanical failure of the stem. Survivorship analysis, taking the end point as rerevision of the stem, gave 97.0% survival at eight years and 91.6% at 11 years. Excellent results both clinically and radiologically can be achieved by cemented revision of the femoral stem for aseptic loosening.