The effect of proximally and fully porous-coated canine hip stem design on bone modeling

Porous coated canine femoral hip replacement implants were evaluated for biological fixation by bone ingrowth and the effect of the extent of porous coating on bone modeling. The Co-Cr alloy implants were either fully porous coated or coated only on the proximal 40% of the stem. Two implants of each type were studied 9, 16, and 36 months after surgery. Implant fixation and bone modeling were assessed radiographically throughout the implant periods and histologically after the test animals were killed. All 12 implants appeared stably fixed within the femur and were bone-ingrown in the porous region. Radiographic features such as proximal medial and anterior cortical thinning, proximal cancellous bone hypertrophy, and new endosteal bone formation near the stem tip were noted within the first postoperative year, with no appreciable change thereafter. The extent of proximal cortical thinning varied from virtually none to as much as 40%, being more prominent with the proximally coated implants at 16 months and with the fully coated implants at 36 months. Of consistent note was cancellous hypertrophy at the junction of porous and smooth implant surfaces with proximally coated implants and new endosteal bone formation and ingrowth at the stem tip of fully coated implants. These results indicate that the proximally porous-coated implant design causes increased proximal stress transfer, but this does not necessarily preclude proximal cortical resorption.