Comparison of the two acetabular components in total hip arthroplasty: a meta-analysis

It is controversial that whether tantalum acetabular components have more favorable clinical outcomes for patients receiving primary or revision total hip arthroplasty (THA), compared with titanium acetabular implants. Herein, we performed a meta-analysis to conclusively estimate the difference in the clinical outcomes between tantalum and titanium acetabular components after THA. In this study, we used the Harris hip score (HHS), instability rate, failure rate and the incidence of gaps as indices for clinical outcomes. The Standardized Mean Difference (SMD)/odds ratios (OR) with corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) for each parameter was calculated. For HHS, there was no significant difference between tantalum and titanium acetabular components for patients after receiving THA (SMD = 0.066, P = 0.799). In terms of the instability rate and failure rate, the results demonstrated that patients in titanium acetabular components group had significantly higher instability rate and failure rate than those in tantalum acetabular implants (instability: OR = 0.454, P < 0.001; failure: OR = 0.448, P = 0.001). With regard to the incidence of gaps, no significant difference was detected between the two groups (OR = 0.403, P = 0.295). In conclusion, our meta-analysis suggests that patients receiving tantalum acetabular components in THA are more likely to have favorable clinical outcomes, compared with those receiving titanium acetabular components.