The TrabecuLink Augments offer an attractive solution in cases of segmental acetabular defects as a prosthetic alternative to structural allograft. The biocompatible material Tilastan-E1,2 and the TrabecuLink structure offer an excellent prerequisite for a stable and permanent treatment of bone defects.
Furthermore, the 3-dimensional TrabecuLink structure, with its pore size, porosity and structure depth, also provides an excellent basis for promoting osteoconduction and microvascularization, taking into account the requirements for the structure-covering protein layer (fibronectin - vitronectin - fibrinogen) 3,4.
The Augments can be combined with all Link cups, in particular with the MobileLink cup, which has variable options for placing bone screws, as the Augment design allows flexibility to put bone screws through shell and Augment.
In case of acetabular defects the combination of a LINK shell with TrabecuLink Augments can be the solution to help conserve the natural patient anatomic and kinematics.
The Augment size range allows good fit for different anatomies and defects5.
TrabecuLink
3-dimensional structure – for optimal bone ongrowth
Pore filling
The sequence of images shows a pore of the TrabecuLink structure being filled with tissue under in-vitro cell culture conditions. The fibronectin laid down by human fibroblasts and continually reorganized over a period of eight days is visible as green fibers. Fibronectin is a component of the extracellular matrix that is formed at an early stage of the healing process. It forms a basis for the embedding of collagen, which is essential for mineralization of the tissue and ingrowth of bone into the structure. Apart from the accumulation of fibronectin, which increases over time, a clear contraction of the matrix towards the center of the pore can be observed. This contraction mechanism, which is attributable to the cellular forces acting in the tissue, accelerates the rate at which the pore is filled with tissue, compared to a layer-by-layer tissue growth (Reference: Joly P et al., PLOS One 2013; https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0073545). Julius Wolff Institute, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin