Taper Material Loss in Total Hip Replacements: Is It Affected by Joint Friction?

The amount of metal debris and corrosion products from taper junctions of the joint arthroplasties, widely recognized as an insidious cause of failure, was not correlated with joint frictional moments. Multiple factors affect taper wear: implant design, material, size, surface finish, and patient weight and activity level. However, in the present cohort, high friction of metal-on-metal total hip replacements likely did not contribute to increased volume of material loss at taper interfaces, despite increased moments at the locations of taper material loss.