Tribology in Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty - Potential Drawbacks and Benefits of Commonly Used Materials

Wear and osteolysis are still the most important potential problems in total hip and knee arthroplasty. Although technology in arthroplasty has been improved dramatically during the past decade, the clinical data relating to some implants reveal that many concerns remain. During the 'Tribology Day' within the scientific programme of the 2013 EFORT Congress in Istanbul, the main topics included these concerns as well as the benefits of the materials most commonly used in total hip and knee arthroplasty. This book includes the presentations delivered on the day and covers a range of interesting issues regarding metal, ceramic, and polyethylene articulations. It provides information on the current concepts relating to tribology in total hip arthroplasty and offers a critical outlook on possible improvements in total knee arthroplasty.

Karl Knahr completed his medical studies at the University of Vienna in 1971 and subsequently trained as an orthopaedic surgeon at the Orthopaedic University Clinic of Vienna. In 1988 he became Head of the 2nd Orthopaedic Department at the Orthopaedic Hospital, Vienna-Speising and in the following year he was appointed Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Vienna. For more than a decade, Professor Knahr has been the Austrian National Delegate to SICOT (Société Internationale de Chirurgie Orthopédique et de Traumatologie),President and current Treasurer of the Austrian Society for Orthopaedic Surgery, and Austrian National Delegate to EFORT. Since 2005 he has been a member of the EFORT Executive Committee. He is currently a member of the editorial boards of International Orthopaedics and the Archives of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery and previously served as an editorial board member for the Journal of Arthroplasty. Professor Knahr has published widely on the subjects of tribology and hip arthroplasty.