Mechanical failure of a Thompson's hemiarthoplasty stem 28 years post-implantation: An investigation with electron microscopy

Maris, I; Darmanis, S; Kytopoulos, V; Economakis, A; Kazakos, K

dc.contributor.author	Maris, I	en
dc.contributor.author	Darmanis, S	en
dc.contributor.author	Kytopoulos, V	en
dc.contributor.author	Economakis, A	en
dc.contributor.author	Kazakos, K	en
dc.date.accessioned	2014-03-01T01:26:36Z
dc.date.available	2014-03-01T01:26:36Z
dc.date.issued	2007	en
dc.identifier.issn	0957-4530	en
dc.identifier.uri	https://dspace.lib.ntua.gr/xmlui/handle/123456789/18151
dc.subject	Crack Propagation	en
dc.subject	Electron Microscopy	en
dc.subject	Fracture Propagation	en
dc.subject	Mixed Mode	en
dc.subject	Scanning Electron Microscopy	en
dc.subject	Surgical Technique	en
dc.subject.classification	Engineering, Biomedical	en
dc.subject.classification	Materials Science, Biomaterials	en
dc.subject.other	Crack propagation	en
dc.subject.other	Failure analysis	en
dc.subject.other	Implants (surgical)	en
dc.subject.other	Scanning electron microscopy	en
dc.subject.other	Surgery	en
dc.subject.other	Fracture propagation	en
dc.subject.other	Implant failure	en
dc.subject.other	Mechanical failure	en
dc.subject.other	Surgical techniques	en
dc.subject.other	Medical problems	en
dc.subject.other	aged	en
dc.subject.other	anamnesis	en
dc.subject.other	arthroplasty	en
dc.subject.other	article	en
dc.subject.other	bone radiography	en
dc.subject.other	case report	en
dc.subject.other	falling	en
dc.subject.other	female	en
dc.subject.other	femur	en
dc.subject.other	hip arthroplasty	en
dc.subject.other	hospitalization	en
dc.subject.other	human	en
dc.subject.other	physical examination	en
dc.subject.other	priority journal	en
dc.subject.other	prosthesis failure	en
dc.subject.other	rotation	en
dc.subject.other	scanning electron microscopy	en
dc.subject.other	stress fracture	en
dc.subject.other	total hip prosthesis	en
dc.subject.other	Aged, 80 and over	en
dc.subject.other	Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip	en
dc.subject.other	Female	en
dc.subject.other	Hip Prosthesis	en
dc.subject.other	Humans	en
dc.subject.other	Microscopy, Electron, Scanning	en
dc.subject.other	Prosthesis Failure	en
dc.subject.other	Surface Properties	en
dc.title	Mechanical failure of a Thompson's hemiarthoplasty stem 28 years post-implantation: An investigation with electron microscopy	en
heal.type	journalArticle	en
heal.identifier.primary	10.1007/s10856-006-0113-y	en
heal.identifier.secondary	http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10856-006-0113-y	en
heal.language	English	en
heal.publicationDate	2007	en
heal.abstract	The authors would like to report a mechanical failure of a Thompson's prosthesis, 28 years post-implantation. A detailed examination of the specimen revealed no defects in the prosthesis and a dominating 'brittle component' fracture of the stem. In this context the detailed fractographic study by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed no detrimental manufactural defects that may have produced microcracks and consequently risked initiating the fracture propagation. In contrast, the fracture was mainly a fatigue one with a mixed mode of microscopic trans- and intergranular crack propagation. To the best of our knowledge, such a mechanism of implant failure in a cementless stem has never before reached 28 years neither in a Thompson's nor any other type of prosthesis, and in the already reported case, it exceeded 30 years [N. Wolson and J. P. Waadell, Can. J. Surg. 38(6) (1995) 542], however the stem's ultrastructure has never been investigated under electron microscopy, which arguably can provide a useful assessment of a fatigue fracture. The authors introduce the question of revising our standards when evaluating the newly designed and expensive implants and propose re-focusing on surgical technique, rather than purely on implant properties. © 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.	en
heal.publisher	SPRINGER	en
heal.journalName	Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine	en
dc.identifier.doi	10.1007/s10856-006-0113-y	en
dc.identifier.isi	ISI:000246618900021	en
dc.identifier.volume	18	en
dc.identifier.issue	6	en
dc.identifier.spage	1135	en
dc.identifier.epage	1139	en