EXPERIMENTAL FAILURE OF HIP ARTHROPLASTY UNDER TORSION LOADING

Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) bone cement is strong in compression, however it tends to fail under torsion. Sufficient pressurisation and subsequent interdigitation between cement and bone are critical for the mechanical interlock of cemented orthopaedic implants, and an irregular surface on the acetabular cup is necessary for reasonable fixation at the cup-cement interface. There is limited literature investigating discrepancies in the failure mechanisms of cemented all-polyethylene acetabular cups with and without cement spacers, under torsional loading.In vitro experimental comparison of three groups of polyethylene acetabular prosthesis (PAP) cemented into prepared sawbone hemipelvises:* PAP without PMMA spacers maintaining an equal cement mantle circumferentially. (Group 1 n=3)* PAP without PMMA spacers cemented deliberately ‘bottoming-out’ the implant within the acetabulum. (Group 2 n=3)* PAP with PMMA spacers. (Group 3 n=3)The constructs were tested to torstional failure on a custom designed setup, and statistical analysis done by a one-way ANOVA and Tukey-Welsh test.Group 3 demonstrated superior torsional resistance with a statistically significant torque of 145Nm (SD±12Nm) at failure, compared to group 2 (109Nm, SD±7Nm) and group 1 (99Nm, SD±8Nm). Group 3 experienced failure predominantly at the bone-cement interface, in contrast, Groups 1 and 2 exhibited failure predominantly at the cup-cement interface. There was no significant difference between Group 1 and 2. Qualitative analysis of the failure mode indicates the efficient redistribution of stress throughout the cement mantle, consistent with the greater uniformity of cement.PMMA spacers increase the resistance to torsional failure at the implant-cement interface. Acetabular components without spacers (Groups 1 and 2) failed at the implant-cement interface before the cement-bone interface, at a statistically significantly lower level of torque to failure. Although the PMMA spacers may reduce cement interdigitation at the cement-bone interface the torsional forces required to fail are likely supraphysiological.