In Vivo Wear and Migration of Highly Cross-Linked Polyethylene Cups

In 50 cemented hip arthroplasties, wear and migration of the polyethylene (PE) cups were measured with radiostereometric analysis for a period of 2 years. Twenty had a normal gamma-in-air-sterilized PE, another 20 had a PE sterilized with 30 000 Gy followed by heat stabilization (Duration; Stryker Orthopaedics, Mahwah, NJ), and 10 had highly cross-linked PE cups irradiated with 100 000 Gy (Crossfire; Stryker Orthopaedics). In the initial 2 months, head penetration (creep) was 63 μm on average for the 3 groups. From 2 to 24 months, the mean proximal head penetration (wear) was 156 μm for standard PE, 138 μm for stabilized PE (P = .45), and 23 μm for highly cross-linked PE (P < .001; analysis of variance). The low in vivo wear rate for highly cross-linked cups was not at the expense of higher migration or less favorable clinical outcome and looks promising.