90% Of Patients With Charnley Protheses Pain Free After 30 Years

Main Category: Bones / Orthopaedics
Also Included In: Pain / Anesthetics
Article Date: 05 Jun 2009 - 1:00 PDT

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The long term success of the Charnley low-frictional arthroplasty has been demonstrated today with a follow-up study of patients 30 to 40 years after treatment. Overall, 90% of the hips were free from pain and activity was reported as normal in 58% of patients.

The 94 patients in the study had a mean age at operation of 43.3 years and a mean age at follow-up of 75.7 years. Therefore some of their reduced activity is a reflection on their age and medical comorbidities. The research demonstrates that the clinical success of the Charnley low-frictional arthroplasty is good and that the 'hallmark of that success is freedom from pain'.

The authors conclude that 'the longest follow-up results are in young patients and have been achieved with the earliest design, materials and operative technique'. Therefore these results should improve with every generation of arthroplasty with evolutionary development and logical introductions of improvements.

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Source
The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery