A Prospective, Randomized Comparison of 3 Types of Proximal Interphalangeal Joint Arthroplasty

43 patients (62 proximal interphalangeal joints) with proximal interphalangeal joint osteoarthritis were included in a study to examine the effectiveness of three types of arthroplasty implants. Patients were randomized to receive surface replacement arthroplasty with a titanium-polyethylene (TI) implant, a pyrocarbon (PY) implant, or arthroplasty with a silicone (SI) spacer. Over a mean follow up period of 35 months, the PY and TI groups tended to have higher maximum range of motion scores than the SI group, but the difference was not significant. The PY and TI groups also had a higher complication rate than the SI group. There were no significant differences between the three groups for pain at rest, mean range of motion, and strength.