The Biomechanical Consequence of Insufficient Femoral Component Lateralization and Exposed Cancellous Bone in Hip Resurfacing Arthroplasty

Insufficient lateralization of the femoral component coupled with exposed reamed cancellous bone has been speculated to predispose to femoral neck fracture. The current study examined the effect of mediolateral implant position and exposed cancellous bone on the strength of the resurfaced proximal femur. Composite femurs were prepared in three configurations: (1) partial, with the implant placed at the native femoral head offset of the femur, partially exposing reamed cancellous bone; (2) proud, with a medialized implant exposing a circumferential ring of cancellous bone; and (3) complete, with a lateralized implant covering all reamed cancellous bone. Specimens were loaded to failure in axial compression. A finite element model was used to further explore the effect of exposed cancellous bone, cement mantle thickness, and relative valgus orientation on the strain distributions in the resurfaced femur. The proud group (2063 N) was significantly weaker than both the partial (2974 N, $p=0.004$⁠) and complete groups (5899 N, $p=0.001$⁠) when tested to failure. The partial group was also significantly weaker than the complete group when tested to failure $(p=0.001)$⁠. The finite element model demonstrated increasing levels of strain in the superior reamed cortical-cancellous bone interface with increasing degree of exposed cancellous bone. The condition of the femoral component medialized as the result of a thick cement mantle had the greatest detrimental impact on strain level in the superior reamed cancellous bone while a valgus oriented implant provided a protective effect. This study provides biomechanical evidence that exposed reamed cancellous bone significantly reduces the load-to-failure and increases maximum strains in the resurfaced proximal femur. The perceived benefit of reconstructing the femur to its native geometry may inherently weaken the proximal femur and increase femoral neck fracture risk if the femoral component is not sufficiently lateralized to cover all unsupported reamed cancellous bone. Relative valgus orientation of the implant may help to minimize the risk of neck fracture if reamed cancellous bone remains exposed following implant impaction.