The osseous response to corundum blasted implant surfaces in a canine hip model

The purpose of this study was to examine the radiographic and histologic response to corundum blasted implant surfaces of varying roughness in a canine total hip arthroplasty model. Three types of tapered femoral implants were made from titanium alloy and were identical in every respect except surface finish. The entire surface of the femoral implant had a 2.9-, 4.2-, or 6.7-micron average surface roughness (Ra) from blasting with 60-, 24-, or 16-grit corundum particles, respectively. Twenty-two stems in 11 dogs were evaluated at 6 months. Twenty-one of the stems showed osseointegration, whereas in one stem a fibrous interface developed. Abundant new periimplant bone formation occurred, particularly within the intramedullary canal where trabeculae spanned implant to endosteal cortex gaps as large as 5 mm. Bone apposition with the 60-, 24-, and 16-grit stems averaged 31.7%, 32%, and 27.9%, respectively; the differences were not statistically significant. However, the pattern of new bone formation was different in that the average length of each region of bone apposition for the 60- and 24-grit surfaces was 50% greater than that for the coarser 16-grit surface. The observations of this study indicate that because of their highly osteoconductive nature, corundum blasted surfaces represent an important and valuable technology for the design of noncemented implants.