MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Newer generations of artificial hips may not be as good as their predecessors, according to research funded by the FDA.

Modern hip replacement devices using metal-on-metal joints or ceramic-on-ceramic joints may wear out faster than metal-on-polyethylene or ceramic-on-polyethylene models.

In a comparative study examining the records of more than 3,000 patients and 3,400 hips, the overall results found no advantage in the more expensive, newer artificial hips, but did see a higher rate of revision surgery in some of the results.

"While hip replacement surgery has helped millions of Americans with painful arthritis or joint damage, substantial number of these implants require revision surgery due to infection, wear, dislocation, instability or other mechanical failures," director of the Patient-Centered Comparative Effectiveness Program Dr. Art Sedrakyan said in prepared remarks.

While it’s too soon to make definitive statements about which devices are truly better or worse and the study’s results are tentative, the data shows that assumptions that newer hips are better need to be re-examined, investigators said.

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