Optimum Combination of Femoral Head Size, Femoral Head Material, and Acetabular Cup Liner’s Highly-Cross-Linked Polyethylene Brand for Hip Implant

Abstract

Clinical two-dimensional linear wear rate data for acetabular cup liners fabricated using approved brands of highly cross-linked ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene, as reported in 39 articles in the literature, were analyzed using a statistical technique called response surface methodology. The output was a series comprising16 acceptable combinations of femoral head diameter (HD), femoral head material (HM), and HXLPE brand (PB), each of which would yield the optimum wear rate (herein taken to be a wear rate of practically zero). An example of such a combination is 28-mm-diameter Oxinium ® femoral head articulated against an acetabular cup liner fabricated from Reflection TM HXLPE. The findings in this work may guide an orthopaedic surgeon's selection of the combination of HD, HM, and PB to use in a primary total hip joint replacement.