Survivorship of the Charnley Elite Plus cemented femoral stem

We report the results of the Charnley Elite Plus femoral stem in multiple surgeons' hands at a minimum of 3 years after implantation. Over a 4-year period, 244 patients underwent 268 primary hip arthroplasty procedures using this particular stem. Patients underwent postal and radiographic review at a mean of 4.5 (3.0--6.8) years following their arthroplasty. There were five revision procedures for aseptic loosening (5/268; 1.9%). Radiological assessment revealed gross radiological failure in a further 12 femoral stems (12/208; 5.8%). In the best case scenario, using revision for aseptic loosening as the endpoint, the survivorship for this period was 98.1%. If radiographic failures are incorporated into this endpoint, survivorship is 93.1%. This failure rate at an early stage raises concerns as to the long-term survivorship of this prosthesis.