What is it about?
Contamination in the form of blood and bone from the taper, which can occur during intra-operative assembly, increases micro-motion and loosening, which can lead to early implant failure. This increases the risk of fatigue fractures, especially when combined with incomplete assembly that deviates from the surgical manual.
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Why is it important?
Re-revisions due to implant failure is a catastrophe for the patient, so identifying potential risks is imperative. We were able to show that ensuring a clean taper surface significantly reduced micromotion and that the new cleaning instrument resulted in similar measurements to the native reference group.
Perspectives
We have shown that contamination plays an important role in the strength of the tapered connection of modular implant systems. With all the benefits that modular hip revision stems offer, it is imperative that the taper junction does not become loose and lead to implant failure. Fortunately, cleaning instruments are being developed that work well and reduce micromotion to the level of native, uncontaminated taper junctions.
Julius M. Boettcher
Technische Universität Hamburg
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Strength of the taper junction of modular revision hip stems, Die Orthopädie, December 2023, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1007/s00132-023-04459-2.
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