Thermal expansion modular femoral head extractor for revision total hip arthroplasty.
Removal of a prosthetic modular femoral head is sometimes desirable during revision hip arthroplasty. A femoral head extractor was designed to heat and expand the prosthetic femoral head, apply a gentle distraction load, and remove the femoral head without injury to the femoral neck, taper, or bone-prosthesis interface. The device was used clinically in six hip revision cases. In five hips with cobalt-chrome heads and titanium alloy tapers, femoral heads were removed successfully; femoral fixation was maintained and femoral components were not visibly damaged. In the sixth case, the female portion of the taper junction was contained in a long femoral head sleeve. Heating the ball did not adequately expand the sleeve to allow easy ball removal.
Section of Orthopaedic Surgery, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle, Washington, USA.
R P
RP
Robinson
P T
PT
Simonian
D005270:Femur Head; D006622:Hip Prosthesis / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D009983:Orthopedic Equipment; D012086:Reoperation