Will 2011 be an austerity year for healthcare? "Premium" implants may not add value.
Published date : 30 December 2010
Article date : 30 December 2010
In a paper in the January 2011 issue of Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, Gloe et al have used a community joint registry in an attempt to identify whether "premium" implants demonstrably add value to hip and knee replacement procedures. "Premium" knee replacements were defined as mobile bearing, high flexion, oxidised-zirconium femoral components or cross linked polyethylene. "Premium" hip replacements included those with ceramic on ceramic, ceramic on polyethylene or metal on metal bearings. Unsurprisingly perhaps, younger patients were more likely to have received a "premium" implant, but there was no difference in the cumulative revision rate, although there were fewer revisions for dislocation in the "premium" hip group, in which large bearings were used more frequently.