The Mechanism and Magnitude of Tribocorrosion Damage at the Cement-Stem Interface of Total Hip Replacements

Introduction: Cemented femoral components have been used in hip replacement surgery since its inception. For many patients this works well, but recent retrieval studies 1–4 and more fundamental studies 5, 6 have highlighted the issues of damage and material loss from the both matt and polished cemented stems. Materials and methods: This study will focus on a cohort of retrievals from the Southampton Orthopaedics Centre for Arthroplasty Retrieval Surgery (SOCARS). The cohort consisted of a number of hybrid modular total hip replacements with cemented femoral components, both from mixed and matched manufacturer stem and head combinations. Femoral stems were polished, collarless, tapered designs; head sizes ranged from 28–54 mm. For each femoral stem, samples of Palacos R + G cement (Heraeus Medical GmbH, Hanau, Germany) were retrieved from the proximal region of the cement mantle (Gruen zones 1 and 7), corresponding to both macroscopically damaged and undamaged surfaces of the stem. The areas of damage were determined using calibrated digital photography; damaged surfaces were then imaged in detail using an Alicona InfiniteFocus microscope (Alicona Imaging GmbH, Graz, Austria). The technique uses optical microscopy and focus variation technology to extract 3D morphology and depth information from the surface with a resolution of 10 nm. A series of measurements were made and two different analysis routes were used to provide volumetric material loss measurements from the stem surface. High-resolution microscopy and elemental analysis of the cement and stem surfaces was conducted via SEM and EDX to identify the mechanisms leading to material loss at the cement-stem interface. Results: The results demonstrate that material loss from polished femoral stems results from a progressive tribocorrosion process; the major damage mechanism is thought to be the micro-motion between the femoral stem surface and zirconium dioxide radiopacifier agglomerates originating from the cement. No significant link was found between the extent of damage to the femoral stem and either the head size or the amount of wear occurring at the head-cup bearing surface. The scale of stem damage varied between implants but often exceeded the volumetric material loss measured at the bearing surfaces. Conclusions: Tribo-corrosive damage to the femoral stems of cemented total hip prostheses is a major potential source of material loss in vivo ; in severely affected arthroplasties, measurements of volumetric wear of the stem at the cement-stem interface were greater than at either the head-cup bearing surface or the taper junction. The mechanism of material loss in this study was identified as a wear-dominated tribocorrosion interaction between the cement and stem, with zirconium dioxide radiopacifier agglomerates within the cement providing the hard particles which damaged the surface of cobalt-chrome femoral stems.