A novel femoral intramedullary plug with sliding mechanism

A novel femoral intramedullary plug with a sliding mechanism has been developed and evaluated clinically. The new plug consists of a pair of specially designed components, each shaped like an obliquely cut cylinder. Postoperative plain radiographs of 30 arthroplasties using the plug were examined for cement leakage, plug migration, and radiolucent line formation between the cement and the femoral cortex. Plugging was complete in 22 cases. Leakage of the cement was seen in 4 cases, and migration of the plug was seen in the other 4 cases. Our study showed the efficacy of the plug in occluding the femoral canal completely in 14 of 22 cases. The plug appears to be promising for clinical applications, because it has good biocompatibility and can occlude the femoral canal tightly.