VACUM femoral cap...NOT!!!

[Guest guest]

Hi guys,

Well i just got off the phone with that surgeon in Amsterdam.

Quite embarassing actually, when i asked him about the new prosthesis that

is held in place by vacum,,,,, he laughed...

He said that the only vacume they use is for sucking up the debris after the

reaming etc... did i feel like an idiot or what!

He was not very positive at all about the resurfacing concept, he mentioned

that he used to do it, but thinks that the long term results will not be

promising, as the acetabular component is prone to loosening , even with

Hydroxy Appetite ingrowth surfaces.

The revision is extremely difficult, as its hard to remove the acetabular

component without damaging the rest of the acetabular.

(those who have seen the BHR video will remember the part where the first

Autopsy removal was done with a hammer and chisel, and it removed a large

portion of the acetabular with it)

He also mentioned that the bone under the femoral cap is prone to collapse

as the cement used shields the weight bearing transfer and loads it under

the prosthesis its self.... not at the top of the femoral head,

This opens up a new line of thought, i never considered this as a drawback,

but i must say that it makes sense. If the bone under the cap is not bearing

weight, it will eventually get dispursed, rather like the femur after a

THR.... i guess the USE IT OR LOOSE IT theory.

I guess that we will not know about that until a few Resurfacing recipients

die and we get the result of the Autopsy and the biopsy of the femoral head

from under the cap. As many resurfacing recipients are young, i guess we

will be waiting a few decades before we see this info.

mmm.. unless we encourage more of them to take up dangerous post surgery

sporting activities...ie PARROTCHUTING!! lol

* joke, honest(

That said, of course i thanked him for the advice, and resigned myself for

my January BHR appointment.

Either way , i think that resurfacing is the way to go. even if after 15

years it fails..at least we gain 15 years before a primary THR.

I hope this opened up a new line of thought...

PS.. he said that in the Netherlands, the new statistics for THR is that you

can expect a 90% success rate at 10 years...

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