Polyethylene wear in total knee arthroplasty is a still unsolved problem resulting
in osteolysis and long-term failure of knee joint replacement. To address the problem
of polyethylene wear, research aimed for an optimal implant design and for an optimal
combination of bearing surfaces. Oxidized zirconium was introduced to minimize surface
wear and thus potentially increase long-term implant survival. This review comprises
the current literature related to in vitro and in vivo studies evaluating performance
of oxidized zirconium total knee arthroplasty and results from retrieval analyses.
Keywords
oxidized zirconium - OxZr - total knee arthroplasty - knee osteoarthritis