Bone ingrowth into a low-modulus composite plastic porous-coated canine femoral component.

Bone ingrowth into low-modulus canine femoral components made of composite plastics and porous coated with titanium fiber mesh was evaluated and compared to that found in femoral components of the same design made of titanium alloy and porous coated with titanium fiber mesh. Both types of components demonstrated extensive bone ingrowth into the porous coatings at 6 weeks and there were no differences in the histologic appearance of the tissue ingrowth in the two groups. The amount of bone that grew into the porous surface, the areal density of bone within the available pore space, and the extent of the prosthesis periphery with bone ingrowth were not significantly varied in the two different components. The results of this study show that adequate fixation of low-modulus composite femoral components porous coated with titanium fiber mesh by bone ingrowth can occur and that further investigation of these materials for femoral components may be warranted.