Ceramic Heads Decrease Metal Release Caused by Head-taper Fretting and Corrosion

Fretting and Corrosion Damage at the Head-Neck Taper is Reduced with Ceramic Femoral Heads: A Retrieval Study

Introduction: Modular head-neck total hip arthroplasty (THA) offers several benefits for orthopaedic surgeons, including intraoperative flexibility and the ability to change the head at revision surgery [1]. However, modularity at the head-neck taper, especially the use of metallic heads and stems, can lead to fretting and corrosion at the taper junction, leading to metal ions and debris releas...

Do Ceramic Femoral Heads Reduce Taper Fretting Corrosion in Hip Arthroplasty? A Retrieval Study

BACKGROUND Previous studies regarding modular head-neck taper corrosion were largely based on cobalt chrome (CoCr) alloy femoral heads. Less is known about head-neck taper corrosion with ceramic femoral heads. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES We asked (1) whether ceramic heads resulted in less taper corrosion than CoCr heads; (2) what device and patient factors influence taper fretting corrosion; and (3) w...

Retrieval analysis of metal and ceramic femoral heads on a single CoCr stem design

OBJECTIVES The use of ceramic femoral heads in total hip arthroplasty (THA) has increased due to their proven low bearing wear characteristics. Ceramic femoral heads are also thought to reduce wear and corrosion at the head-stem junction with titanium (Ti) stems when compared with metal heads. We sought to evaluate taper damage of ceramic compared with metal heads when paired with cobalt chromi...

The Influence of Stem Taper Re-Use and Head/Stem Taper Mismatch on the Failure Load of Ceramic Heads

Head-Neck Taper Corrosion in Hip Arthroplasty

Modularity at the head-neck junction of the femoral component in THA became popular as a design feature with advantages of decreasing implant inventory and allowing adjustment of leg length, offset, and soft tissue balancing through different head options. The introduction of a new modular interface to femoral stems that were previously monoblock, or nonmodular, comes with the potential for cor...