Abstract
Objective- To evaluate three femoral cement pressurization techniques in a laboratory setting.
Design- Observational study using a plastic femur (sawbone) model.
Materials and Methods- 12 femoral bone models were cemented and pressurized using three different cement pressurization techniques (standard technique, pressuriser in situ technique, and thumb pressurisation technique). Four sets of observations were taken for each technique. Intramedullary pressure readings were obtained using proximal and distal pressure monitoring transducers. The peak pressure and the time for which the pressure was above a particular cut off level (5 KPa and 100 KPa) were compared.
Results- There were significant variations between the peak pressure and the duration for which the pressure was above 100 KPa. The pressuriser in situ technique yielded significantly (p< 0.001) higher peak pressure both proximally (397.5 ± 40.2 KPa) and distally (597.3 ± 102.4). The standard technique produced the optimum pressure of 100 KPa for significantly (p< 0.001) longer duration proximally and distally (66.8 ± 29.5 and 45.2 ± 15.5 seconds respectively) compared to the other two techniques (less than 5 and 17 seconds for thumb pressurisation technique and pressuriser in situ technique respectively, both proximally and distally). There were no significant statistical differences between the three methods for the time for which the cement pressure was higher than 5 KPa.
Conclusion- Although the pressuriser in situ technique produced highest peak pressure, the standard technique produced optimum pressure for longer duration. The standard technique seems to be adequate to achieve optimum pressurization during femoral cementing without increased risk of embolisation.
The abstracts were prepared by Mr Peter Kay, Editorial Secretary. Correspondence should be addressed to British Hip Society, The Hip Centre, Wrightington Hospital, Appley Bridge, Wigan, Lancashire WN6 9EP.
