Introduction/objective: The results of Charnley total hip replacement, when performed in the general setting, may not be as good as expected (1). The objective is to know the long time survival in a Charnley low friction arthroplasty series performed in a General Hospital.

Material and methods: To have a minimum follow-up of ten years, we analysed 404 cases from a 431 series implanted in our department between 1976 and 1993. Mean age was 67 years, 57% were women.

The survival was calculated used Kaplan-Meier method, considering revision surgery as the analyzed event. Age and gender relation with survival were analyzed using the Log-Rank test.

Results: The survival of the Charnley low friction arthroplasty with the 95 % confidence interval was 92% (95–89%), 87% (90–81%), and 83% (89–78%) at 10, 15, and 20 years respectively. Patients younger than 60 years in the surgery time had lower survival than the older group for the acetabular (Log-Rank test p=0.043) and femoral components (Log-Rank test p=0,0085). There is not a statistically significant difference related to gender.

Conclusions: The survival in our low friction arthroplasties series at 10, 15, and 20 years is similar to the found in multicentric studies performed in other centres with special dedication to the surgery of the hip (2). Age affected the likelihood of long-term survivorship of the acetabular and femoral components used in Charnley low friction Arthroplasty.