Hallmarks in the history of orthopaedic implants for trauma and joint replacement

This manuscript represents an attempt to review orthopaedic implants and reconstructive orthopaedic surgery for lower limbs lesions or trauma mainly in the 20th century. We emphasized on the type of implants, the biomaterials and their evolution, and we also engaged in a special reference for the pioneers of orthopaedic implant surgery and the innovative designers of those implants, in such a way to understand the ways and the stages through which they evolved to their present forms, as well as the scientific principles that affected their design and progress. A correlation between the evolution of implants and several relevant disciplines (biomaterial chemists and engineers, biomechanics) that developed simultaneously with orthopaedic reconstructive joint surgery is present since the first attempts to reconstruct a damaged joint. In the future, further progress is anticipated in the use of biomaterials, more compatible towards human biology, with minimally invasive applications and a perpetually increased life span. This progress depicts a phenomenon directly related to a multilevel, multifactorial and interdisciplinary scientific and technological field with many expectations.