Current analysis of unicondylar knee replacements (UKR) by national registries is based on the pooled results of medial and lateral implants. Using data from the National Joint Registry for England and Wales (NJR) we aimed to determine the proportion of lateral UKR implanted, their survival and reason for failure in comparison to medial UKR. By combining information on the side of operation with component details held on the NJR we were able to determine implant laterality (medial vs. lateral) for 32,847 of the 35,624 (92%) UKR registered before December 2010. Kaplan Meier plots, Life tables and Cox' proportion hazards were used to compare the risk of failure for lateral and medial UKRs after adjustment for patient and implant covariates.Background
Methods
We report the first use of synchrotron xray spectroscopy to characterize and compare the chemical form and distribution of metals found in tissues surrounding patients with metal-on-metal hip replacements that failed with (Ultima hips) or without (current generation, large diameter hips) corrosion. The commonest clinical category of failure of metal-on-metal (MOM) hip replacements is “unexplained” and commonly involved a soft tissue inflammatory response. The mechanism of failure of the Ultima MOM total hip replacement includes severe corrosion of the metal stem and was severe enough to be removed from clinical use. Corrosion is not a feature that we have found in the currently used MOM bearings. To better understand the biological response to MOM wear debris we hypothesized that tissue from failed hips with implant corrosion contained a different type of metal species when compared to those without corrosion.Summary
Introduction
