How commonly does aseptic loosening occur?
In cemented THA done using inferior techniques, the rate of aseptic loosening requiring revision was 10% to 15% at 10 to 15 years of follow-up (1%/year). Radiographic loosening of the femoral prosthetic component was as high as 30% to 40%. With contemporary cement techniques there is now <3% loosening at 10 years, 5% at 15 years, and 10% at 20 years. These rates are comparable to the frequency of loosening in the best porous-coated cementless prostheses. Patients who are young (<50 years) and/or heavy (>200 lb) have the highest incidence of loosening for both cemented and cementless methods.
