Effect of sterilization method on properties of Palacos® R acrylic bone cement

The focus of this work was a delineation of the effect of the method of sterilization (gamma-irradiation versus exposure to ethylene oxide (EtO) gas) of the powder constituents of Palacos R bone cement on the molecular weight, quasi-static tensile and compressive properties and fatigue performance of the fully polymerized material. It was found that the quasi-static properties are not noticeably affected. However, when the powder constituents were gamma-sterilized, both the molecular weight and the fatigue performance of the cement are significantly lower compared to when the constituents are EtO-sterilized. Explanations are offered for these findings, and recommendations are submitted regarding the preferred method of sterilization of bone cement and reporting of studies in which different formulations of cement are compared.