Impact of wear debris on striated muscle- a comparative in-vivo study with titanium and stainless steel

✍ Scribed by C.N. Kraft; B. Burian; J. Kunze; O. Diedrich; P. Pennekamp; M.A. Wimmer

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2004
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 230 KB
• Volume: 35
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0933-5137
• DOI: 10.1002/mawe.200400837

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Wear debris and corrosion products of metal implants induce biological events that may have severe consequences for skeletal muscle microcirculation. We therefore studied in vivo leukocyte‐endothelial cell interaction and leukocyte transmigration in skeletal muscle after confrontation with characterised titanium and stainless steel fretting corrosion particles, and compared these results with those of the bulk materials. Using the hamster dorsal skinfold chamber preparation and intravital microscopy, we could demonstrate in 30 animals that stainless steel induces a more pronounced inflammatory answer in contrast to the implant material titanium. However we were not able to show a general benefit of bulk vs. debris. Overall the study suggests that not only the bulk properties of orthopaedic implants but also the microcirculatory implications of inevitable wear debris may play a role in determining biocompatibility and ultimately longlivety of an implant. The skinfold chamber is a feasible and versatile model for observation of the dynamic process of microvascular response after foreign‐body implantation, and offers much perspective. With a minimum of adverse host reaction, our results indicate that titanium still represents the gold standard in metallic implant material, even in the case of generated wear debris, which shows a comparatively low inflammatory potential.