THA Retrievals: The Need to Mark the Anatomic Orientation of the Femoral Head

The hypothesis of this study was that the rotational orientation of femoral head damage would greatly affect the volumetric wear rate of the opposing polyethylene (PE) liner. Damage on twenty retrieved cobalt-chromium femoral heads was simulated in a validated damage-feature-based finite element model. For each individual retrieval, the anatomic orientation of the femoral head about the femoral neck axis was systematically varied, in 30° increments. The PE wear rate differential between the maximum- versus minimum-wear orientations was often sizable, as high as 7-fold. Knowing the correct femoral head anatomic orientation is therefore important when analyzing the effects of femoral head damage on PE liner wear. Surgeons retrieving modular femoral heads should routinely mark the anatomic orientation of those components.