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Orthopaedic Proceedings
Vol. 101-B, Issue SUPP_12 | Pages 64 - 64
1 Oct 2019
McCalden RW Decker MM Klassen RJ Lanting B
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Introduction

HXLPE acetabular liners were introduced to reduce wear-related complications in THA. However, post-irradiation thermal free radical stabilization can compromise mechanical properties, leave oxidation-prone residual free radicals, or both. Reports of mechanical failure of HXLPE acetabular liner rims raise concerns about thermal free radical stabilization and in vivo oxidization on implant properties. The purpose of this study is to explore the differences in the mechanical, physical and chemical properties of HXLPE acetabular liner rims after extended time in vivo between liners manufactured with different thermal free radical stabilization techniques.

Material and methods

Remelted, single annealed and sequentially annealed retrieved HXLPE acetabular liners with in vivo times greater than 4.5 years were obtained from our implant retrieval laboratory. All retrieved liners underwent an identical sanitation and storage protocol. For mechanical testing, a total of 55 explants and 13 control liners were tested. Explant in vivo time ranged from 4.6 – 14.0 years and ex vivo time ranged from 0 – 11.6 years. Rim mechanical properties were tested by microindentation hardness testing using a Micromet II Vickers microhardness tester following ASTM standards. A subset of 16 explants with ex vivo time under one year along with five control liners were assessed for oxidation by FTIR, crystallinity by Raman spectroscopy, and evidence of microcracking by SEM.