Conclusions Current published evidence does not support survivorship differences among commonly used bearing surfaces in patients younger than age 65 years undergoing THA at short- to mid-term followup .
Background  Total hip arthroplasty ( THA )  is increasingly being performed in patients with long life expectancies and active lifestyles .
Newer implant bearing surfaces , with superior wear characteristics , often are used in this cohort with the goal of improving longevity of the prosthesis , but comparisons across the numerous available bearing surfaces are limited , so the surgeon and patient may have difficulty deciding which implants to use .
Questions / purpose sThe purpose of this study was to answer the following question : Is there a short- to mid-term survivorship difference between common THA bearings used in patients younger than age 65 years ?
Highly Crosslinked Polyethylene Reduces Wear in Total Hip Arthroplasty at 5 Years
Background Although hip arthroplasty reliably relieves pain and improves function , problems have arisen with wear and osteolysis .  Highly crosslinked polyethylene has been developed to address this problem although at present there is limited clinical evidence it does so longer term . Questions / purpose sWe compared the in vivo wear of st and ard versus highly crosslinked polyethylene ( HXLP ) in primary total hip arthroplasty at a minimum of 5-year followup . Methods We enrolled 122 patients in a prospect i ve , double-blinded , r and omized trial and followed them annually to assess their progress . Annual radiographs were analyzed using previously vali date d edge detection software to assess for two-dimensional , three-dimensional , and volumetric wear . The mean follow up was 5.5 years ( range , 4.1 to 7 years ) . Results The two-dimensional wear measurements for HXLP showed lower wear compared to the conventional group ( 0.05 mm/year versus 0.26 mm/year , respectively ) . Three-dimensional and volumetric wear were similarly lower in the HXLP group . Conclusions Highly crosslinked polyethylene undergoes substantially less wear than conventional polyethylene at medium term . The effect of hip arthroplasty longevity will need to be assessed with longer-term studies , but this may lead to a decreased need for revision as a result of less wear and osteolysis . Level of Evidence Level I , therapeutic study . See Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence
Conclusions Current published evidence does not support survivorship differences among commonly used bearing surfaces in patients younger than age 65 years undergoing THA at short- to mid-term followup .
Background  Total hip arthroplasty ( THA )  is increasingly being performed in patients with long life expectancies and active lifestyles .
Newer implant bearing surfaces , with superior wear characteristics , often are used in this cohort with the goal of improving longevity of the prosthesis , but comparisons across the numerous available bearing surfaces are limited , so the surgeon and patient may have difficulty deciding which implants to use .
Questions / purpose sThe purpose of this study was to answer the following question : Is there a short- to mid-term survivorship difference between common THA bearings used in patients younger than age 65 years ?