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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Joints 2017; 05(01): 051-056
DOI: 10.1055/s-0037-1601407
Case Report
Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Bore Disruption: An Unusual Mechanical Failure of Two Hip Hemiarthroplasties

Federico Dettoni
1   Ospedale Mauriziano Umberto I, SCDU Ortopedia e Traumatologia, Turin, Italy
,
Umberto Cottino
1   Ospedale Mauriziano Umberto I, SCDU Ortopedia e Traumatologia, Turin, Italy
,
Silvia Spriano
2   Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy
,
Davide Edoardo Bonasia
1   Ospedale Mauriziano Umberto I, SCDU Ortopedia e Traumatologia, Turin, Italy
,
Roberto Rossi
1   Ospedale Mauriziano Umberto I, SCDU Ortopedia e Traumatologia, Turin, Italy
3   Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Università degli Studi di Torino, Turin, Italy
› Author Affiliations
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Publication History

Publication Date:
05 June 2017 (online)

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Abstract

We report a case of two hemiarthroplasties (HAs) that underwent an unexpected mechanical failure. Two patients affected by femoral fractures were treated with an HA. At 5 and 7 years after surgery, they showed a breakage of the HA at the head–stem junction. We analyzed macroscopically and microscopically (by a scanning electron microscopy) the surfaces of the broken prostheses. In both cases, a fracture was detected starting at the joining point between the femoral head and the slot that receives the taper cone of the stem (the so-called bore), with the typical macroscopic and microscopic pattern of a fatigue fracture. The fatigue fracture resulted from repeated cycles of torsional stresses throughout the years. In literature, we did not find any other report of such HA failure.

Keywords

fatigue - fracture - hemiarthroplasty - hip - scanning electron microscopy
 

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