Retrievals of modular hip implants

D. Buente, M.M. Morlock, G. Huber

Early failure of modular hip replacements can be caused by the release of wear products due to fretting-corrosion within taper junctions. The study aimed to identify design factors, linked to the observed susceptibility of specific tapers to wear and corrosion. A quantitative analysis of wear from circular and flat taper designs for the mixed metal coupling CoCr-TMZF was performed. The reconstruction of explanted taper geometries exhibited the individual engagement strategies, providing an estimate of the contact situation in-vivo. This mechanical approach gave explanations of the arrangement of wear phenomena around the taper.

Publications:

D. Buente, G. Huber, N. Bishop, M.M. Morlock (2015) Quantification of material loss from the non-circular neck piece taper of one bi-modular primary hip prosthesis design. Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery, 97-B(10):1350-7