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. 2013 Sep;28(8 Suppl):2-6.
doi: 10.1016/j.arth.2013.05.040. Epub 2013 Aug 1.

Is increased modularity associated with increased fretting and corrosion damage in metal-on-metal total hip arthroplasty devices?: a retrieval study

Genymphas B Higgs  1 , Josa A Hanzlik, Daniel W MacDonald, Jeremy L Gilbert, Clare M Rimnac, Steven M Kurtz; Implant Research Center Writing Committee
Collaborators, Affiliations

Is increased modularity associated with increased fretting and corrosion damage in metal-on-metal total hip arthroplasty devices?: a retrieval study

Genymphas B Higgs et al. J Arthroplasty. 2013 Sep.

Abstract

This retrieval study documents taper damage at modular interfaces in retrieved MOM THA systems and investigates if increased modularity is associated with increased fretting and corrosion. One hundred thirty-four (134) heads and 60 stems (41 modular necks) of 8 different bearing designs (5 manufacturers) were analyzed. Damage at the shell-liner interface of 18 modular CoCr acetabular liners and the corresponding 11 acetabular shells was also evaluated. The results of this study support the hypothesis that fretting and corrosion damage occurs at a variety of modular component interfaces in contemporary MOM THAs. We also found that modularity of the femoral stem was associated with increased damage at the head. An analysis of component and patient variables revealed that dissimilar alloy pairing, larger head sizes, increased medio-lateral offsets and longer neck moment arms were all associated with increased taper damage at the modular interfaces.

Keywords: corrosion; fretting; metal on metal; modularity; total hip arthroplasty.

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Conflict of interest statement

The Conflict of Interest statement associated with this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.arth.2013.05.040.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Photographs showing examples of modular interface damage on components in this study. (A) head taper, 4. (B) stem taper–monolithic stem, 3. (C) stem taper–modular neck, 4. (D) distal taper of modular neck, 4. (E) backside of modular liner, 4. (F) mating surface of modular shell, 2.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Bar graph showing the distribution of taper damage scores at the head tapers, stem tapers, distal taper of modular necks, backside of CoCr liners, and mating surface of modular shells.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Graph showing the variation in head and stem taper damage across stem design.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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