In these three years, many troubles have occurred in the arthroplasty by hip joint prostheses with metal on metal sliding surfaces. Anomalous reaction including a pseudotumor, which is supposed to be caused by the metal ions released from the implant surfaces, is the most serious problem for the patients1). This problem seriously confused us because there is the fact that ion release has not hardly occurred between a head and an acetabulum, where usual wear proceeds. The important clue was the stain that was sometimes found on the surfaces of the taper junction of retrieved prostheses. This stain has been generally estimated the evidence of the fretting corrosion. It has not been clarified why short range sliding enhances the corrosion, yet. In the present study, to elucidate this problem, we observed the behavior of the passive film of implant surfaces under the sliding conditions of fretting, which is presumed on the taper junction. In the present study, electric potential was measured as an indicator to assess the removal of the passive film of cobalt chromium (CoCr) alloy under the fretting conditions. A wear simulator (FPR-2100, RHESCA, Tokyo, Japan) was used for the testing apparatus with reciprocating motion. A Co-28Cr-6Mo alloy pin (Smith & Nepew, London, UK) specimen was 10 mm in diameter and abraded with the common material plate (Fig. 1). A load of 1 N was applied to a pin. The electronic potential between the pin and the Ag/AgCl reference electrode (HX-R5, HOKUTO DENKO, Tokyo, Japan) soaking in the PBS(−) as simulated biological fluid were measured using a high impedance electrometer (HE-104, HOKUTO DENKO, Tokyo, Japan) (Fig. 2). The sliding width was chosen 0.5–10 mm. The reciprocating cycle was chosen 0.5–2 Hz. The changes in the electronic potential of CoCr alloy were recorded during the sliding motion together with under the static conditions before and after the sliding motion.Introduction
Materials and Methods
Direct anterior approach (DAA) is one of the best way to the hip joint for prevention of post-operative dislocation. We have applied this method as minimum invasive surgery (MIS) to more than two hundred developmental dysplastic hip of Japanese patients in total hip arthroplasty (THA) and there is no post-operative dislocation within three years of last observation carried forward (LOCF). The reason of this benefit is derived from the accuracy of cup positioning and keeping good muscle balance. But the learning curve is very important and some technical pitfalls are there in this approach. We have chosen thirty four patients that the duration of operating time more than one and half hours and loss of blood more than five hundred gram in hour series. The most important factors of the difficulties are the combinations of shortening of femoral neck, especially Perthes like deformity of developmental deformities of the hip joint (DDH) and widening of pelvic bone for the reason of insufficiency working spaces and the difficulties of broaching insertion (8/34). The second factor is the contracture of hip and knee joints combinations for the difficulties of lift up the proximal femur as broaching stem (3/34). The obesity, Body Mass Index (BMI) above thirty is not the reason of difficulties of women in our series. DAA can be extended to Smith-Petersen approach and very useful technique for primary THA in Japanese dysplastic hip patients.
