A new study says, no matter the material, all types of hip replacement devices appear to work the same.
Specifically, the newer metal-on-metal implants seem to be no more effective than older implants and may sometimes even be more problematic. This comes from a new analysis in the British Medical Journal.
It looked at the newer metal-on-metal and ceramic on ceramic hip implants and found no advantage compared with traditional bearings such as metal on polyethylene.
There is some evidence from three large national registries that higher rates of replacement surgery are associated with metal-on-metal but scientists say there is not enough evidence about these devices to really tell if one is better or safer than another.
