Osseointegration in hip prostheses: experimental study in sheep

Sixteen 2- to 3-year-old sheep were submitted to a hemiarthroplasty of the hip joint with a specially designed femoral component. The proximal two thirds of the stem had a circumferential, plasma-sprayed, porous coating with hydroxyapatite. The animals where killed a 15, 30, 60, 90, 120, 180, 200, 270, 360, and 540 days after surgery. Femurs were submitted to plain radiographs, computerised tomography (CT) scan, and dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). Cross-sections were obtained at four different levels and studied using scanning electron microscopy. In the coated portion of the stem, apposition of woven immature bone was evident at 15-30 days and mature lamellar bone by 30 days. With time, the gap between the endosteum and the coated surface was filled by bridges of lamellar bone with a marked trabecular orientation. In the distal uncoated portion of the stem, the implant was initially surrounded by fibrous tissue that, with time, transformed into lamellar bone.