The threshold force required for femoral impaction grafting in revision hip surgery.
OBJECTIVE
Femoral impaction grafting requires vigorous impaction to obtain adequate stability without risk of fracture, but the force of impaction has not been determined. We determined this threshold force in a preliminary study using animal femurs.


METHODS
Adult sow femurs were used because of their morphological similarity to human femurs in revision hip arthroplasty. 35 sow femurs were impacted with morselized bone chips and an increasing force was applied until the femur fractured. This allowed a threshold force to be established. 5 other femurs were impacted to this force and an Exeter stem was cemented into the neomedullary canal. A 28-mm Exeter head was attached and loaded by direct contact with a hydraulic testing machine. Axial cyclic loading was performed and the position sensor of the hydraulic testing machine measured the prosthetic head subsidence.


RESULTS
29 tests were completed successfully. The threshold force was found to be 4 kN. There was no statistically significant correlation between the load at fracture and the cortex-to-canal ratio or the bone mineral density. Following impaction with a maximum force of 4 kN, the average axial subsidence was 0.28 mm.


CONCLUSIONS
We achieved a stable construct without fracture. Further studies using human cadaveric femurs should be done to determine the threshold force required for femoral impaction grafting in revision hip surgery.
Flannery
Olivia M
OM
Trinity Centre for Bioengineering, School of Engineering, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.
Britton
John R
JR
O'Reilly
Peter
P
Mahony
Nicholas
N
Prendergast
Patrick J
PJ
Kenny
Paddy J
PJ
D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D019644:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D001843:Bone Cements; D016025:Bone Transplantation / Q000379:methods; D005264:Femoral Fractures / Q000517:prevention & control; D006622:Hip Prosthesis; D006801:Humans; D011475:Prosthesis Failure; D012086:Reoperation; D013552:Swine
D001843:Bone Cements