TOTAL HIP-ARTHROPLASTY WITH THE CHARNLEY PROSTHESIS IN PATIENTS 55 YEARS OLD AND LESS - 15 TO 21-YEAR RESULTS

Data on 240 primary Charnley total hip arthroplasties, performed in 21 1 patients from October 1968 to July 1974, were recorded prospectively , Fifty-two prostheses were implanted in forty-six patients who were t hirty-four to fifty-five years old, and 188 prostheses were implanted in 165 patients who were more than fifty-five years old, The results f or the younger patients were compared with those for the older patient s, Twenty hips were revised over-all, and all five of the infections a nd four of the five fractures of the femoral stem that occurred in thi s group were in the older patients, However, the rate of aseptic loose ning was similar for the two age-groups (three of the hips in the youn ger patients and five in the older patients), The probability of revis ion after twenty years for the two groups, as determined with Kaplan-M eier analysis, was 11.7 per cent for the younger patients and 10.7 per cent for the older patients, There was no significant difference betw een the two groups with regard to either the number of revisions or th e percentage of patients who had radiographic signs of loosening, The median Charnley hip scores during the course of the study were also si milar for the two groups, We recommend that Charnley low-friction arth roplasty be used even in younger patients, as the long-term results we re excellent and were comparable with those in the elderly age-group.