Purpose: to review advances and clinical performance of polyethylene in total joint arthroplasty, summing up historical problems and focusing on the latest innovations.
Methods: search for medical grade Ultra-High-Molecular-Weight-Polyethylene (UHMWPE); Data Sources: PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library.
Results: the increasing number of joint arthroplasties and high-activity patients led to progressive developments of bearing surfaces to improve performance and durability. Different strategies such as crosslinking UHMWPE (HXLPE) and the addition of vitamin-E (HXLPE) have been tested to improve wear and oxidation resistance.
Conclusion: Recent innovations about UHMWPE showed improvements either for hip and knee, with the potential of long-term survivorship.
Keywords: Arthroplasty; Crosslinking; Hip; Knee; Mechanical properties; Polyethylene; UHMWPE; Vitamin E; Wear.
© 2021 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Professor P K Surendran Memorial Education Foundation.