Does taper angle clearance influence fretting and corrosion damage at the head-stem interface? A matched cohort retrieval study

Previous studies have speculated that modular taper design may have an effect on corrosion and material loss at the taper surfaces. We present a novel method to measure taper angle for retrieved femoral head taper and stem trunnions using a roundness machine (Talyrond 585, Taylor Hobson, UK). We also investigated the relationship between taper angle clearance and visual fretting-corrosion score at the taper-trunnion junction using a matched cohort study of 50 ceramic and 50 metal head-stem pairs. In this study, no correlation was observed between the taper angle clearance and the visual fretting-corrosion scores in either the ceramic or the metal cohorts.