Abstract
Objective
This study aims to compare the in vitro wear rate of crosslinked, high molecular weight polyethylene coupled to 36-mm diameter ceramic heads and 32-mm diameter metal heads.
Methods
Ceramic-on-polyethylene (36 mm) and metal-on-polyethylene (32 mm) tribological pairs were submitted to biomechanical tests in a simulator to determine the wear rate after 15 × 106 cycles.
Results
A statistically significant difference (p = 0.0005) was detected when comparing the wear rate of assemblies with metallic heads (average wear: 14.12 mg/MC) and ceramic heads (average wear: 7.46 mg/MC).
Conclusion
The present study demonstrated the lower wear rate in prosthetic assemblies using 36-mm crosslinked ceramic-on-polyethylene tribological pairs compared to 32-mm crosslinked metal-on-polyethylene assemblies. This finding demonstrates the effectiveness of ceramic-on-polyethylene tribological pairs, even with large diameter heads.
Keywords
hip arthroplasty; ceramic; polyethylene; hip; prosthesis design