The effect of bone cement used for stabilization of endoprostheses on blood clotting system activity.

The authors carried out studies of the blood clotting and fibrinolysis systems in 15 patients undergoing total endoprosthetic replacement of the hip joint with a McKee-Ferrara type of prosthesis and stabilized by Surgical Simplex Acrylic bone cement (North Hill Plastics, Ltd. London). The observations point to statistically significant changes in the blood clotting and fibrinolysis systems with a tendency towards hypercoagulation and intravascular clotting (DIC). Fibrinolysis activation associated with these changes is secondary, resulting among others, from the mechanism of the action of free fibrin monomers.