Weight bearing surfaces in total hip arthroplasty

The failure of total hip replacement is related mainly with the wear of the weight bearing surfaces. The pairing of materials which is mainly used, consists in a combination of a metal head and a polyethylene acetabular cup. To improve the survival rate of prostheses, it is proposed either improving the quality of the polyethylene and also the prosthetic head, either to use a combination without polyethylene having therefore a minimal wear. In the last case, those pairing are called hard / hard: metal/metal or ceramic/ceramic. The benefits and inconvenients resulting from these pairings will be exposed.