What is the long-term survival for primary THA with small-head metal-on-metal bearings?

Abstract

Background Large-headmetal-on-metal (MoM) bearing hip replacements have been shown to have a much higher rate of revision than other bearing surfaces. However, small-head (#32 mm)MoM bearing surfaces have been in use for many years with several reports of satisfactory mid- to long-term survivorship.It is unclear whether the long-term survival of small-head MoM devices will continue to be satisfactory or whether the same concerns seen with the large-head MoM devices will ultimately become more prevalent.Questions/purposes We analyzed a large national registry to ask:(1) What is the 15-year Kaplan-Meier survivorship of primary conventional THA using smallhead (#32 mm) MoM bearing surfaces comp..