Comparing In Vivo Performance of Two Highly Cross-Linked Polyethylene Thermal Treatments: Remelting vs Annealing in Acetabular Liners

摘要

Background: The introduction of highly cross-linked polyethylene (HXLPE) acetabular liners has greatly improved the wear performance of metal-on-PE bearing surfaces used in total hip arthroplasty. Changing the sterilization environment and adding thermal treatments, such as remelting or annealing, were introduced to limit on-shelf and in vivo oxidation of cross-linked liners. This study compares the wear properties of the remelted A-CLASS (MicroPort) HXLPE liner to a sequentially annealed HXLPE.