Abstract
Isolated liner and head exchange procedure has been an established treatment method for polyethylene wear and osteolysis when the acetabular component remains well-fixed. In this study, its mid-term results were evaluated retrospectively in 34 hips.
Among the consecutive patients operated upon from September 1995, 2 patients (3 hips) were excluded because of inadequate follow-up and the results of remaining 34 hips of 34 patients were evaluated. They were 20 men and 14 women with a mean age of 49 years at the time of index surgery. Conventional polyethylene liner was used in 26 cases and highly cross-linked polyethylene liner was used in 8 cases. In 3 cases, liner was cemented in the metal shell because compatible liner could not be used. After a minimum follow-up of 5 years (range, 5∼20.2), re-revision surgery was necessary in 10 cases (29.4%); 8 for wear and osteolysis, 2 for acetabular loosening. In all re-revision cases, conventional polyethylene was used. There was no failure in the cases in which highly cross-linked polyethylene was used. There was no case complicated with dislocation.
The results of this study suggest more promising results with the use of highly cross-linked polyethylene in isolated liner exchange.
