Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Can the radiopaque marker in surgical swabs scratch orthopaedic implant surfaces?

  • Original Article • GENERAL ORTHOPAEDICS - BIOMECHANICS
  • Published:
European Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery & Traumatology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Aims

To determine whether the radiopaque marker strip, which is woven in surgical swabs, causes measureable wear on metal implants at pressures typically used to wipe off fluid from their surface.

Materials and methods

Finger pressure used to wipe a surface was measured and used as a reference pressure for further testing. A tribological wear rig was then used to analyse the wear caused on polished titanium plates by a cobalt chromium pin (the control test), the pin covered by a surgical swab and the pin covered by a radiopaque marker strip.

Results

It was found that the cotton part or the radiopaque marker of surgical swabs on polished medical grade titanium plates caused no significant wear. In contrast severe scratching was observed from the cobalt chromium pin on its own.

Conclusion

To our knowledge, this is the first study in the literature analysing the wear caused by the surgical swabs and radiopaque strip on metal implants. The results suggest that surgical swabs are safe to use on metallic implants at pressures typical of a wiping motion.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Lauwers PR, Van Hee RH (2000) Intraperitoneal gossypibomas: the need to count sponges. World J Surg 24:521–527

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Sadeghifar AR, Saeed AR (2013) Infected textiloma, 35 years after the operation for femur fracture, an extremely rare occurrence. Arch Bone Jt Surg 1:41–43

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Takigami I, ItohY Itokazu M, Shimizu K (2008) Radio-opaque marker of a surgical sponge appearing as an intra-articular foreign body after total hip arthroplasty. Arch Orthop Trauma Surg 128:1167–1168

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Sansone V, Pagani D, Melato M (2013) The effects on bone cells of metal ions released from orthopaedic implants. A review. Clin Cases Miner Bone Metab 10:34–40

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Archard Equation. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archard_equation. Accessed 18 Aug 2018

  6. Archard JF (1953) Contact and rubbing of flat surfaces. J Appl Phys 24:981–988

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Archard JF, Hirst W (1956) The wear of metals under unlubricated conditions. Proc R Soc Lond Ser A 236:397–410

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Billi F, Campbell P (2010) Nanotoxicology of metal wear particles in total joint arthroplasty: a review of current concepts. J Appl Biomater Biomech 8:1–6

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Besong AA, Jin ZM, Fisher J (2001) Importance of pin geometry on pin-on-plate wear testing of hard-on-hard bearing materials for artificial hip joints. Proc Inst Mech Eng Part H 215:605–610

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Ingram JH, Stone MH, Fisher J, Ingham E (2004) The influence of molecular weight, crosslinking and counterface roughness on TNF-alpha production by macrophages in response to ultra high molecular weight polyethylene particles. Biomaterials 25:3511–3522

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Muratoglu OK, Greenbaum ES, Bragdon CR, Jasty M, Freiberg AA, Harris WH (2004) Surface analysis of early retrieved acetabular polyethylene liners: a comparison of conventional and highly crosslinked polyethylenes. J Arthroplasty 19:68–77

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Davidson JA (1993) Characteristics of metal and ceramic total hip bearing surfaces and their effect on long-term ultra high molecular weight polyethylene wear. Clin Orthop Relat Res 294:361–378

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Cobb AG, Schmalzreid TP (2006) The clinical significance of metal ion release from cobalt-chromium metal-on-metal hip joint arthroplasty. Proc Inst Mech Eng Part H 220:385–398

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Watters TS, Cardona DM, Menon KS, Vinson EN, Bolognesi MP, Dodd LG (2010) Aseptic lymphocyte-dominated vasculitis-associated lesion: a clinicopathologic review of an underrecognized cause of prosthetic failure. Am J Clin Pathol 134:886–893

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Harris WH (1995) The problem is osteolysis. Clin Orthop Relat Res 311:46–53

    Google Scholar 

  16. Haynes DR, Crotti TN, Potter AE, Loric M, Atkins GJ, Howie DW, Findlay DM (2001) The osteoclastogenic molecules RANKL and RANK are associated with periprosthetic osteolysis. J Bone Joint Surg Br 83:902–911

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the NIHR (National Institute for Health Research) through funding of the LMBRU (Leeds Musculoskeletal Biomedical Research Unit).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Leeds Musculoskeletal Biomedical Research Unit, Chapel Allerton Hospital, Chapeltown Road, Leeds, LS7 4SA, UK

    Anthony A. Theodorides, Todd D. Stewart & Ram Venkatesh

  2. Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

    Todd D. Stewart

Authors
  1. Anthony A. Theodorides
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Todd D. Stewart
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ram Venkatesh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anthony A. Theodorides.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Theodorides, A.A., Stewart, T.D. & Venkatesh, R. Can the radiopaque marker in surgical swabs scratch orthopaedic implant surfaces?. Eur J Orthop Surg Traumatol 29, 383–388 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00590-018-2309-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00590-018-2309-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation