Stress analysis of cemented glenoid prostheses in Total Shoulder Arthroplasty

Glenoid component loosening is the most-frequently encountered problem in the total shoulder arthroplasty. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether failure of the glenoid component is caused by stresses generated within the cement mantle, implant materials and at the various interfaces during humeral abduction, using 3-D FE analyses of implanted glenoid structures. FE models, one total polyethylene and the other, metal backed polyethylene, were developed using CT-scan data and submodelling technique, which was based on an overall solution of a natural scapula model acted upon by all the muscles, ligaments and joint reaction forces. Material interfaces were assumed to be fully bonded. Based on the FE stress analysis, the following observations were made. (1) The submodelling technique, which required a large-size submodel and the use of prescribed displacements at cut-boundaries located far away from the glenoid, was crucial for evaluations on glenoid component. (2) Total polyethylene results in lower-peak stresses (tensile: 10 MPa, Von-Mises: 8.31 MPa) in the cement as compared to a metal-backed design (tensile: 11.5 MPa, Von-Mises: 9.81 MPa). The maximum principal (tensile) stresses generated in the cement mantle for both the designs were below its failure strength, but might evoke crack initiation. (3) The cement–bone interface adjacent to the tip of the keel seemed very likely to fail for both the designs. In case of metal-backed design, this interface adjacent to the tip of the keel appears even more likely to fail. (4) High metal–cement interface stresses for a moderate load might indicate failure at higher load. (5) It appears that both the designs were vulnerable to failure in some ways or the other. A part of the subchondral bone along the longitudinal axis of the glenoid cavity should be preserved to strengthen the glenoid structure and to reduce the use of cement.