Evaluation of the effects of implant materials and designs on thermal necrosis of bone in cemented hip arthroplasty.

The exothermic polymerization of bone cement may induce thermal necrosis of bone in cemented hip arthroplasty. A finite element formulation was developed to predict the evolution of the temperature with time in the cemented hip replacement system. The developed method is capable of taking into account both the chemical reaction that generates heat during bone cement polymerization (through a kinetic model) and the physical process of heat conduction (with an energy balance equation). The possibility of thermal necrosis of bone was then evaluated based on the temperature history in the bone and an appropriate damage criterion. Specifically, we evaluate the role of implant materials and designs on the thermal response of the system. Results indicated that the peak temperature at the bone/cement interface with a metal prosthesis was lower than that with a polymer or a composite prosthesis in hip replacement systems. Necrosis of bone was predicted to occur with a polymer or a composite prosthesis while no necrosis was predicted with a metal prosthesis in the simulated conditions. When reinforcing osteoporotic hips with injected bone cement in the cancellous core of the femur, the volume of bone cement implanted is increased which may increase the risk of thermal necrosis of bone. We evaluate whether this risk can be decreased through the use of an insulator to contain the bone cement. No thermal necrosis of bone was predicted with a 3 mm thick polyurethane insulator while more damage is predicted for the use of bone cement without the insulator. This method provides a numerical tool for the quantitative simulation of the thermal behavior of bone-cement-prosthesis designs and for examining and refining new designs computationally.