The Reliability of Modern Alumina Bearings in Total Hip Arthroplasty

Ceramic bearing failure in total hip arthroplasty (THA) is a rare but serious complication. The incidence of such failures has declined steadily because of improvements in ceramic material quality, manufacturing methods, and implant design. The incidence of failures of the Biolox (CeramTec AG, Plochingen, Germany) forte brand of alumina components produced by CeramTec was 0.02%, or 2 in 10,000 from January 2000 to May 2006. The current estimation of the risk of an alumina THA bearing failure is 2 in 10,000 cases; most of these failures involve alumina femoral heads. Alumina bearings used in modern THA implants are safe and reliable, with a very low risk of failure.