The Benefits of Using Ceramic Bearing Surfaces in a Total Hip Arthroplasty

Ceramic on ceramic bearing surfaces have the lowest volumetric wear when compared to all other combinations of bearing surfaces. Garino reviewed 333 total hip replacements treated with ceramic on ceramic bearing surface. At three years, there were four ceramic-related complications, including three chipped liners and one eccentric seating of the cup liner. No patient sustained a gross fracture of the ceramic components. Additional advantages include inert wear particles and high biocompatibility. Disadvantages of ceramic bearing surfaces include stripe wear, squeaking, the possibility of catastrophic fracture, and relatively high cost.