To what extent could the acetabular liner thickness be reduced yet remaining tribologically acceptable in metal‐on‐vitamin E‐diffused crosslinked polyethylene hip arthroplasty?

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to evaluate how much reduction in acetabular liner thickness could be tribologically acceptable in metal‐on‐vitamin‐E diffused highly crosslinked ultra‐high molecular weight polyethylene (Vit‐E XLPE) bearings for total hip arthroplasty. We tested thick‐ (10.3 mm), moderate‐ (6.3 mm), and thin‐ (4.3 mm) Vit‐E XLPE liners coupled with 28‐mm cobalt‐chromium femoral heads on a hip simulator to 5 million cycles, and peak contact stress was predicted based on mathematical modeling. Wear damage was also evaluated in terms of surface topology and morphology. Wear simulation demonstrated that the 2–4 mm thickness reduction (6.3 → 4.3 mm and 10.3 → 6.3 mm) did not significantly affect the wear rate for Vit‐E XLPE liner, whereas 6‐mm reduction (10.3 → 4.3 mm) significantly increased liner wear (by 309%) and head roughness (by 415%). This effect was attributed to a contact stress increase (by 24–41%). However, the wear rates for all thicknesses tested were much lower than those previously reported for thicker non‐crosslinked materials. The original crystalline morphology was maintained in all liners after wear. Our results suggest that the 2–4 mm thickness reduction may be tribologically acceptable in Vit‐E XLPE liners. However, more severe and longer term simulations are necessary to determine a minimum acceptable thickness.