On Friday 29 August at 14:00, Karina Nørgaard Linde defends her PhD dissertation entitled "Improving tibial implant survival. The role of bone mineral density, fixation methods and adjuvant antiresorptive treatments assessed by radiostereometry".

A strong fixation of cementless knee implants is critical for ensuring longevity. For cementless implants, the surrounding bone plays a major role in the osseointegration of the implant. This PhD project investigated how bone mineral density, fixation methods (bone cement/no bone cement) and antiresorptive treatments influence the fixation of tibial implants, and thereby expectedly the overall longevity of knee implants.

The project showed that while cementless tibial implants initially migrated more than cemented implants, they stabilised after the first year. Antiresorptive treatments (denosumab and locally applied zoledronic acid) were effective in reducing tibial implant migration. Additionally, local zoledronic acid preserved the bone around the tibial implant by suppressing bone resorption. The findings support implementation of intraoperative zoledronate application locally on the tibial bone to improve implant fixation and preserve tibial bone, which is expected to increase the survival of cementless tibial implants. However, the results should be confirmed by multicentre studies with greater patient volume and various cementless implant types.

The summary is written by the PhD student.

The defence is public and takes place in Auditorium G206-142, Entrance G, Aarhus University Hospital. Please see the press release for more information. 

Contact

PhD student Karina Nørgaard Linde
Mail: karina.linde@clin.au.dk
Phone: (+45) 60241372

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