Effects of cement creep on stem subsidence and stresses in the cement mantle of a total hip replacement

Abstract

In cemented total hip prostheses, the role of creep of the acrylic cement (polymethyl methacrylate, [PMMA]) in increasing or decreasing the chance of failure of the cement mantle is a subject of ongoing controversy. In the present study we used a three-dimensional finite-element model of a cemented stem to assess the influence of cement creep on subsidence of the stem, and on the stress and strain in the cement under cyclic load, both in the short and long term. The cement layer was assigned the shear and bulk creep moduli of Zimmer regular PMMA cement, which were obtained experimentally. The stem-cement interface was modeled either as (1) completely bonded, (2) completely debonded with friction, or (3) completely debonded and frictionless. Under the cyclic load some cement creep occurred with all three bonding conditions, allowing additional subsidence of the stem and a decrease in the stress components within the cement. During the unloaded period the full recovery of the preload conditions could be reached with the completely bonded and with the frictionless interfaces. With the frictional interface there was residual cement creep, residual stresses within the cement, and residual subsidence of the stem during the unloaded period; however, the reduction of the stress was at most 13% and the subsidence was about 0.46 mm. The much larger subsidence of debonded stems that is often observed clinically might be attributed to the factors which were not included in the present model, such as circumferential bone remodeling.