Cementless total hip replacement: Bio-active glass ceramic coating studied in dogs

We studied 2 types of a cementless total hip prosthesis in dogs. Both were coated with titanium plasma-spray. In both components, the pores in the deep layer of 1 group were further coated with apatite and wollastonite containing glass-ceramic (AW glass-ceramic). 50 dogs underwent unilateral total hip replacements, and were killed at 1, 3, or 6 months postoperatively. We evaluated the femoral and the acetabular components mechanically and histologically. At 1 month, the detaching load and bone ingrowth of the AW glass-ceramic-coated femoral and acetabular components were higher than those of the control implants. At 3 and 6 months there were no differences between the 2 types of components. Thus, AW glass-ceramic enhanced the early phase of cementless implant fixation.