Information for Medical Professionals

Tapered femoral stems could benefit younger patients

Using uncemented, tapered femoral stems could be a good means of providing durable fixation in young patients in need of hip replacement surgery.

According to a new research paper presented at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, tapered cementless components can have a similar outcome to standard primary cemented total hip arthroplasty, reports Ortho Supersite.

Marcus Streit, the lead German researcher behind the new paper, was quoted by the news provider as saying: "Young patients have higher activity levels, and they are dependent on durable implants with excellent long-term survival.

He noted that if a correctly sized, tapered stem was fitted then osteolysis and aseptic loosening did not present a long-term problem.

"[The] revision rate is 50 times higher if the stem was undersized [or had] a canal fill index below 75 per cent," Streit concluded.

Traditional metal-on-metal implants were recently associated with an increased likelihood of inflammation and loosening, according to research published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery.

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