The effect of impaction energy on dynamic bone strains, fixation strength and seating of cementless acetabular cups

Seating a cementless acetabular cup via impaction is a balancing act; good cup fixation must be obtained to ensure adequate bone in‐growth and cup apposition, while acetabular fracture must be avoided. Good impaction technique is essential to the success of hip arthroplasty. Yet little guidance exists in the literature to inform surgeons on ‘how hard’ to hit. A drop rig and synthetic bone model were used to vary the energy of impaction strikes in low and high density synthetic bone, while key parameters such as dynamic strain (quantifying fracture risk), implant fixation and polar gap were measured. For high energy impaction (15 J) in low density synthetic bone a peak tensile strain was observed during impaction that was up to 3.4x as large as post‐strike strain, indicating a high fracture risk. Diminishing returns were observed for pushout fixation with increasing energy. 85% of the pushout fixation achieved using a 15 J impaction strike was attained by using a 7.5 J strike energy. Similarly polar gap was only minimally reduced at high impaction energies. Therefore it is suggested that higher energy strikes increase fracture risk, but do not offer large improvements to fixation or implant‐bone apposition. It may difficult be for surgeons to accurately deliver specific impaction energies, suggesting there is scope for operative tools to manage implant seating.