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 ?
A randomized prospective evaluation of outcomes after total hip arthroplasty using cross-linked marathon and non-cross-linked Enduron polyethylene liners.
Cross-linked liners were introduced with the promise that they would substantially reduce polyethylene wear . In 1999 , our institution initiated a prospect i ve study to compare the outcome of total hip arthroplasty patients who were r and omized to non-cross-linked Enduron liners  with that of total hip arthroplasty patients who were r and omized to Marathon polyethylene liners that had been cross-linked with 5 Mrad ( 50 kGy ) of gamma-irradiation and heat-treated to eliminate free radicals . At a mean follow-up of 5.7 years , the clinical outcomes among the Marathon and Enduron liners were similar . However , the mean wear rate was 0.01 + /- 0.07 mm/y for the Marathon group , which represents a 95 % reduction compared with the mean wear rate of 0.19 + /- 0.12 mm/y for the Enduron group . In addition , the incidence of osteolysis was lower in the Marathon group
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 ?