The current study was performed to determine the status, at a minimum of twenty-five years, of a prospective, single-surgeon series of patients treated with primary Charnley total hip arthroplasty with a contemporary femoral cementing technique that included use of a distal cement plug and a retrograde cement-delivery system. Since our review at a minimum of twenty years postoperatively, two primary total hip prostheses were revised (one because of acetabular loosening, and one because of femoral loosening). Of the original cohort of 357 hips (320 patients), ten (2.8%) had revision of the femoral stem because of aseptic loosening. Forty-nine patients (fifty-two hips, 14.6%) who had been in the initial study group were still living at the time of the present review. Five hips (10%) in living patients had required a femoral revision because of aseptic loosening. Including those that were revised, eight femoral components (17%) in living patients were seen to be loose radiographically. Although this study demonstrates the remarkable durability of the femoral fixation obtained with the polished flatback Charnley prosthesis and the contemporary cementing technique, there was some deterioration of the results with time. These results provide a standard for comparison with cementless fixation after hips treated with that technique have been followed for a similar duration.
Level of evidence: Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions to Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.