Degradation rate of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene

Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene components for total joint replacement chemically degrade before and after implantation, and the degradation is associated with an increase in density. The goal of this study was to determine the average rate of density change in these components following sterilization by gamma radiation in air as a function of shelf age and implantation time. Using the density gradient column method, density profiles were obtained through the thickness from loaded and unloaded regions of 10 retrieved Insall-Burstein/Posterior-Stabilized II tibial components and one operating-room inventory component for which the initial density profile and patient history (if applicable) were known. The average density of the components increased at a constant rate of 0.000186 g/cc/month during the first 50 months after sterilization (r(2) = 0.54) but was not significantly affected by loading (p > 0.05). The quantitative degradation rates may be useful to help verify kinetic models to predict bulk degradative changes on the basis of microstructural and chemical processes. This research also suggests the hypothesis that degradation of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene can be modeled in terms of changes in bulk or average properties.