Bone Cement, Acrylic

Abstract

Bone cement has been widely used in orthopedic surgeries since Sir John Charnley first introduced the self‐curing bone cement for the fixation of artificial joints in 1958. Several important aspects of material characteristics of bone cement, including its material compositions, short‐ and long‐term mechanical properties are discussed in this article. This article aims to provide comprehensive information for the orthopedic community on cement applications. The article is arranged in seven sections and begins with a brief introduction and description of bone cement compositions, followed by a section on cement setting procedure and cementing technique. Then, the thermal aspect (polymerization heat and potential bone thermal damage) and volumetric change effects (porosity and residual stress) are discussed. The final section focuses on the main mechanical properties of cement, including the static strength, fatigue failure, and viscoelasticity of bone cement. Finally, the article ends with a brief summary of potential research directions.