Can mesenchymal stem cells survive under normal impaction force in revision total hip replacements?

Impaction allograft as a scaffold for bone-forming cells is a tissue-engineering approach for filling bone defects that are commonly encountered during revision total joint replacement (THR). The purpose of this in vitro study is to assess the viability of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) grown on allograft following impaction using forces similar to those measured during revision total hip replacements. Impaction forces of 0, 3, 6, and 9 kN were used representing normal and high impact. The results showed that the viability in the 3 and 6 kN groups was not significantly reduced compared with that of the 0 kN group, while the survival of the MSCs was significantly reduced after 9 kN impaction force. This study suggests that the addition of MSCs to the allograft scaffold will survive normal impaction force in revision THR.