Abstract
Summary Statement
The current biomecahnical study demonstrated that the stemless peripheral leg humeral component prototype and central screw humeral component prototype achieved similar initial fixation as stemmed Global Advantage humeral component in terms of resultant micromotion in total shoulder arthroplasty.
Introduction
A stemless humeral component may offer a variety of advantages over its stemmed counterpart, e.g. easier implantation, preservation of humeral bone stock, fewer humeral complications, etc. However, the initial fixation of a stemless humeral component typically depends on cementless metaphyseal press-fit, which could pose some challenges to the initial stability. Long-term success of cementless implants is highly related to osseous integration, which is affected by initial implant-bone interface motion1. The purpose of the study was to biomechanically compare micromotion at the implant-bone interface of three humeral components in total shoulder arthroplasty.
Patients & Methods
Three humeral components were evaluated: Global Advantage, a central screw prototype, and a peripheral leg prototype. All components were the smallest sizes available. Global Advantage is a stemmed design. Both central screw prototype and peripheral leg prototype are stemless designs. Five specimens were tested for each design. Composite analogue humeral models were utilized to simulate the humeral bone. The cortical wall had a thickness of 3 mm and a density of 481 kg/m3, while the cancellous density was 80 kg/m3. The model was custom fabricated to accommodate 40 mm humeral component and had a 45° resected surface and a square base to facilitate test setup. Each humeral component was implanted per its surgical technique. The construct was clamped in a vise with the humeral shaft angled at 27°. A MTS test system was employed to conduct the test. A sinusoidal compressive load from 157 N to 1566 N (2BW) was applied to the humeral component at 1 Hz for 100 cycles. The implant-bone interface micromotion was measured with a digital image correlation system which had a resolution of less than 1 micron. The micromotion measurement was transformed to 2 components: 1 was parallel and the other perpendicular to the humeral resection surface. Peak-valley micromotion from the last 10 cycles were averaged and utilised for data analyses. A one-way ANOVA and post-hoc Tukey tests were performed to compare the micromotion of different designs (α=0.05).
Results
Micromotion of Global Advantage parallel to the resection (X-Axis) was significantly less than that of central screw prototype and peripheral leg prototype. Micromotion of peripheral leg prototype perpendicular to the resection (Y-Axis) was significantly less than Global Advantage and central screw prototype. There was no significant difference between different designs in resultant micromotion.
Discussion/Conclusion
Clinical studies have shown that current stemless shoulder prosthesis yielded encouraging results in mid-term follow-ups. Particularly, the stemless Arthrex Eclipse humeral component, a central screw design, has been reported to have a secure bony fixation and ingrowth at an average of 23 months postoperatively4. The current study demonstrated that the stemless peripheral leg prototype and central screw prototype achieved similar initial fixation as stemmed Global Advantage in terms of resultant micromotion, and provided biomechanical evidence that stemless humeral components could have comparable initial stability to stemmed counterparts.
