Journal of Long-Term Effects of Medical Implants

ISSN for PRINT: 1050-6934

For Online Access

Best Paper Award Selection - Editorial Board Site

2006, Volume16

Issue 2

104 pages

Issue price - $189.00

Olav Reikeras, M.D., Ph.D.
Institute of Clinical Medicine, Rikshospitalet University Clinic, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

Carina B. Johansson, PhD
Department of Biomaterials/Handicap Research, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Institute for Surgical Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg; and Department of Technology, University of Orebro, Orebro, Sweden

Mikael Sundfeldt, MD, PhD
Department of Biomaterials/Handicap Research, Institute for Surgical Sciences, University of Göteborg; Department of Orthopaedics, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Institute for Surgical Sciences, University of Göteborg, Sweden

The aim of this study was to investigate whether the coating of titanium (Ti) implants with hydroxyapatite (HA) might create a better fixation when titanium implants are implanted into a gap. In each of 16 rats, the medullary cavity of both femurs was entered by an awl from the trochanteric area. With steel burrs it was successively reamed to a diameter of 1.5 mm. In a random manner the proximal part of the cavity in half of the bones was reamed once again to a diameter of 2.0 mm. Nails with a diameter of 1.5 mm and a length of 34 mm were then inserted into the medullary cavity of these bones with press fit at the distal half and a gap to the bone in the proximal half. In the remaining bones the whole medullary canal was reamed to a diameter of 2.0 mm, and nails with a diameter of 2.0 mm and a length of 34 mm were introduced. In all cases, either a pure Ti nail or a Ti nail entirely plasma sprayed with HA was used in a random manner. The surface roughness of the pure Ti was characterized by Ra 2.6 μm and Rt 22 μm. Ra of HA was 7.5 μm and Rt 52 μm. At sacrifice after 16 weeks, both femurs were dissected free from soft tissues and then immersed in fixative. A specimen slice of about 5 mm in thickness was prepared from the subtrochanteric region with a water-cooled band saw. Sample preparation for undecalcified tissue followed the internal guidelines at the laboratories of the Department of Biomaterials/Handicap Research. Generally, bone contact to the nails with HA coating was more predictable than was bone contact to the Ti nails. But due to rather large variations in bone contact between the samples, statistical analyses revealed non-significant differences between the 4 groups (p = 0.083). There were no significant differences between Ti and HA coated nails of 2.0 mm (p = 0.633), nor between Ti and HA coated nails of 1.5 mm (p = 0.924). The pooled values for the 2.0 mm nails showed significantly higher bone bonding contact than the pooled values of the 1.5 mm nails (p = 0.011). Our results, then, indicate that bone bonding contact to implants with a loose fit insertion is less predictable than in press fit insertion, and HA coating seemed to be more predictable than pure Ti. However, due to large variations between the samples, the differences did not reach significant levels.

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