TANTALUM CONES FOR SEVERE BONE LOSS IN REVISION TOTAL KNEE ARTHROPLASTY: MINIMUM 5-YEAR FOLLOW-UP

IntroductionThe optimal management of severe tibial and/or femoral bone loss in a revision total knee arthroplasty (TKA) has not been established. Reconstructive methods include structural or bulk allografts, impaction bone-grafting with or without mesh augmentation, custum prosthetic components, modular metal augmentations of prosthesis and tumor prosthesis. Recently metaphyseal fixation using porous tantalum cones (Zimmer, Warsaw, IN) has been proposed as alternative strategy for severe bone loss.ObjectivesThe purposes of this study were to determine the clinical and radiographic outcomes in patients who underwent revision knee arthroplasty with tantalum cones with a minimum of 5-year follow-up.MethodsFrom November 2005 to August 2008 a total of 26 porous tantalum metaphyseal cones were used to reconstruct severe tibial and/or femoral bone loss in 18 patients during revision TKA at a single institution. There were 12 females and 6 males with an average age of 73 years (range 55–84) at the time of revisi...