Doctor, what does my ceramic-on-ceramic hip arthroplasty weigh?

Background: While total hip arthroplasty (THA) is generally very successful, certain patients remain dissatisfied. A common concern, especially in younger and more active patients, is the weight the implant will add to the hip. However, there is very little data available to help guide surgeons in addressing this concern. The goal of this study was therefore to compare the weight of the total hip arthroplasty implants to that of tissue removed. Hypothesis: That the weight of the total hip arthroplasty implants would exceed that removed tissue. Patients and methods: A prospective study was conducted in 104 patients, without interfering with surgical plans. To account for different implant designs, especially relating to stem fixation, we included both cementless (n = 51) and cemented (n = 53) femoral stems. During the procedure, the removed bone and soft tissues, as well as the post-implantation cement were collected and weighed. The weight of the implants was provided by the manufacturer. Results: Both cemented and cementless THA implants proved significantly heavier than the removed bone and soft tissues. The median weight gained was 145 g [IQR: 123-168] with the cementless implant and 241 g [221-364] with the cemented implant (p < 0.001). Multivariable regression analysis of patientor implant factors influencing weight gain after THA revealed that weight gain decreased with patient BMI (i3 = -1.0, 95% CI: -2.0--0.1 (p = 0.034)). In contrast, weight gain increased slightly with total implant weight (i3 = 0.7, 95% CI: 0.6-0.8 (p <= 0.001)). Further, weight gain was greater for women (i3 = 19.0, 95% CI: 9.1-29.0 (p <= 0.001) (men 150 g [135-219], women 211 g [157-250] (p = 0.010)) and patients who received the cemented stem (i3 = 40.0, 95% CI, 19.4-46.5, p <= 0.001). Discussion: Current models cause a two- to three-fold gain of weight at the hip joint after THA. While it is not clear whether this weight increase has any clinical repercussions, this finding can be helpful when a patient raises questions on this topic during the preoperative counseling. More research is necessary to determine whether lighter implants may be beneficial for patients. Level of evidence: III, case control study.