[Survival of the T28 femoral stem. Comparison of polished versus roughed-surface finish].

Introduction: Femoral stem loosening in total hip arthroplasty has a multifactorial etiology. T28 femoral stems have been made both roughed and polished-finish types, and differences in design are of interest in their effect on survival.

Materials And Methods: One hundred and sixty-seven stems (84 polished and 83 roughed-finish) placed between 1975 and 1982 were evaluated. Gruen zones were used to determine loosening and survival was determined by the Kaplan-Meier method.

Results: Revision was made in 24.8% of the cases. Twenty-year survival rates were of 85.2% for roughed-finish stems and of 64.2% for polished-finish stems.

Conclusions: We were able to confirm our hypothesis concerning the longer survival rate of the roughed-finish implant which was of 87.95% at 17 years of follow-up. The survival-time of the implant was independent of diagnosis, cementation, age and positioning. The survival-time of the T28 cemented implant does not only depend on its texture but it has a multifactorial origin.