The Influence of Femoral Stem Thickness and Implantation Technique on the Strength of the Bone Cement Bond

Abstract

The influence of stem thickness, stem orientation, and insertion pressure on the strength of a prosthesis-cement-bone system was studied in vitro. Three types of prostheses were used with thick and thin stems, allowing for thick or thin cement envelopes. They were implanted with different stem orientations, and with and without a distal femoral cement plug. They were then loaded in a testing machine until a discontinuity of the load deflection curve occurred. The main factor determining the failure load was the presence of the distal plug. In specimens with plugs the main load at failure was 6.5 N, in specimens without a plug it was 4.8 N (P > 0.05). The most stable combination was the thick stem with a thin cement envelope placed in valgus or neutral orientation, and implanted with a distal cement plug. It was concluded that when no plug was present failure occurred at the bone-cement interface; when a plug was present it occurred at the prosthesis-cement interface.