The purpose of this study was to evaluate the results of ceramic-on-ceramic bearing primary total hip arthroplasty (THA) using cemented femoral stems and cementless femoral stems.

We studied 59 cases (52 patients) of THAs using ceramic-on-ceramic bearing cemented femoral stems and 64 cases (58 patients) of THAs using ceramic-on-ceramic bearing cementless femoral stems. All THAs were performed between January 2004 and February 2005 and were followed up for more than 3 years. The clinical results were evaluated using the Harris hip score (HHS), WOMAC score, sense of discomfort, and thigh pain. Radiographic results were assessed with serial radiographs.

The mean HHS improved from 62.7 points preoperatively to 92.4 points at the last follow-up in the cemented stem group and improved from 61.5 points to 91.8 points in the cementless stem group (p>0.05). And mean WOMAC score improved from 37.9 points to 7.0 points in the cemented stem group and from 38.5 points to 12 points in the cementless stem group (p<0.05). There were 5 patients with a sense of discomfort and 9 patients with thigh pain in the cementless stem group and no cases in the cemented stem group. There were no instances of acetabular loosening in either group. Subsidence of the cemented femoral stem was less than 1 mm in 57 cases and less than 2 mm in 2 cases. All cementless femoral stems acquired firm bony union.

Ceramic-on-ceramic bearing THA using a cemented stem showed clinical results superior to those achieved using a cementless stem. Cemented THA is thought to be good for complementing the problems caused by the hardness of ceramic-on-ceramic bearings.