The effect of cross-linking agents on acrylic bone cements containing radiopacifiers

Poly(methylmethacrylate) PMMA, based cements are the most widely used bone cements in joint replacement surgery. Although, there are some disadvantages in the use of these cements, the clinical success rate is fairly high. Intrinsic radiopacity is difficult to achieve in these cements due to the constituent elements of the PMMA polymer. As radiopacity is an essential requirement, PMMA bone cements have been rendered radiopaque by blending heavy metal ion salts, which tend to adversely affect the mechanical and biological properties of the bone cement. In this study, dimethacrylate cross-linking agents were added to the monomer phase in order to generate a cross-linked matrix, with barium sulphate as a radiopaque agent. The results suggest that the mechanical properties can be improved or retained with the addition of such cross-linking agents.