Wear debris 'could be a symptom of hip replacement failure'

Periprosthetic bone resorption and wear debris could be symptoms of failure in ceramic-on-ceramic hip replacements, new research suggests.

A study presented at the tenth European Federation of National Associations of Orthopaedics and Traumatology Congress in Italy suggests that common views of this as a cause of the problem could be incorrect.

In a large number of alumina-on-alumina hip replacements cases failure was due to secondary implant instability or malpositioning, it claims.

The study did not find that wear debris in ceramic implants created a biological reaction, whether in vitro or in vivo.

Dr Nicola Baldini, lead author, told Orthopaedics Today Europe that many retried joints of this type displayed poor fixation or inadequate models.

He says: "The amount of periprosthetic osteolysis and the mode of failure, including the temporal progression of bone resorption, was quite different in ceramic-on-ceramic compared to metal-on-metal implants."

Earlier this month, research published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery suggested that metal artefact-reduction MRI, three dimensional CT measurements and inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry of blood could help surgeons determine the risk of hip replacement implant failures.

<< Back

News provided by Adfero in collaboration with Biomet. Please note that all copy is (c) Adfero Ltd and does not reflect the views or opinions of Biomet unless explicitly stated.