What the Surgeon Can Do to Reduce the Risk of Trunnionosis in Hip Arthroplasty: Recommendations from the Literature

Trunnionosis, defined as wear and corrosion at the head–neck taper connection, is a cause of failure in hip arthroplasty. Trunnionosis is linked to a synergistic combination of factors related to the prosthesis, the patient, and the surgeon. This review presents analytical models that allow for the quantification of the impact of these factors, with the aim of providing practical recommendations to help surgeons minimize the occurrence of this failure mode. A tighter fit reduces micromotion and, consequently, fretting of the taper connection. The paramount parameters controlling the fixation force are the coefficient of friction and the impaction force. The influence of the head diameter, as well as of the diameter and angle of the taper, is comparatively small, but varus alignment of the taper and heads with longer necks are unfavourable under physiologic loads. The trunnion should be rinsed, cleaned, and dried carefully, while avoiding any contamination of the bore—the female counterpart within the head—prior to assembly. Biological debris, and even residual water, might critically reduce the fixation of the taper connection between the head and the neck. The impaction force applied to the components should correspond to at least two strong blows with a 500 g hammer, striking the head with an ad hoc impactor aligned with the axis of the taper. These strong blows should correspond to a minimum impaction force of 4000 N.