Mechanical Disassembly of Retrieved Long-Stem Total Knee Replacements with Taper Modularity

摘要

Based on these results it is evident that taper junctions have varying mechanical strength even within the same design. These measured load magnitudes are within the range previously reported for modular taper-lock junctions of hip stems. Although there was no visual evidence of gross failure of any taper-lock junction and all appeared to have endured the prior physiological loading without metal fracture, gross changes degrading the surface finish of several modular taper-lock junctions were noted.