Repeated Ceramic Head Fracture after Ceramic-on-ceramic Total Hip Arthroplasty

ABSTRACT

Alumina ceramic-on-ceramic total hip arthroplasty is a widely-adopted option, especially for younger patients, due low wear, scratch resistance, the wettable characteristics of alumina ceramics, and because of the relatively low biological reactivites of ceramic wear particles. However, fracture remains a significant problem because ceramics are inherently brittle, and few reports have been issued on short head fractures. In the described case, a ceramic head fracture occurred only 8 months after replacing the original head and with a new 28 mm head and liner. Both of these incidents may have been caused by head-to-liner impingement due to excessive anteversion of the metal shell. During the second revision surgery, this situation was managed successfully using a conventional elevated-polyethylene liner and a CoCr metal head, while retaining all metal implants.