In vitro experiments with an injection technique for cup fixation in total hip arthroplasty.

A new technique has been developed to position the cup rigidly into the acetabulum during total hip joint replacement. After positioning the flanged cup on the acetabulum by means of screws, a low-viscosity cement is injected through a hole in the rim of the cup. A comparison with the standard cementing technique was made on the basis of in vitro experiments. For this purpose a mold was constructed to produce castings simulating the human acetabulum. The distribution of the cement, the pressure developed in the acetabulum, and the penetration of the cement are compared for the two cementing techniques.