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US-12616577-B2 - Hinged articulating spacer system for revision knee arthroplasty

US12616577B2US 12616577 B2US12616577 B2US 12616577B2US-12616577-B2

Abstract

A hinged articulating spacer system for revision knee arthroplasty includes a femur rod for a femur, and a tibia rod for a tibia. The tibia rod is hingedly couplable to the femur rod to form a hinged rod assembly. A pre-formed femoral spacer component includes bone cement impregnated with an antibiotic. The pre-formed femoral spacer defines an opening that receives the hinged rod assembly. A pre-formed tibial spacer component includes bone cement impregnated with an antibiotic. The pre-formed tibial spacer defines an opening that receives the hinged rod assembly.

Inventors

  • Donald N. Sullivan

Assignees

  • Donald N. Sullivan

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20231204

Claims (6)

  1. 1 . A method of performing a revision total knee arthroplasty, the method comprising: removing a total knee arthroplasty prosthesis from a knee joint of a patient, thereby creating a joint space; and implanting, temporarily and after said removing the total knee arthroplasty prosthesis, a hinged articulating spacer system into the joint space, wherein said implanting a hinged articulating spacer system includes: coupling a femoral component to a distal end portion of a femur of the knee joint, wherein the femoral component includes a pre-formed femoral articulating spacer that is pre-loaded with an antibiotic, and a fork coupler coupled to the femoral articulating spacer; coupling a tibial component to a proximal end portion of a tibia of the knee joint, wherein the tibial component includes a pre-formed tibial articulating spacer that is pre-loaded with an antibiotic, and a male coupler coupled to the tibial articulating spacer; inserting the male coupler between tines of the forked coupler so that transverse openings in the male coupler and the forked coupler are aligned; and hingedly coupling the male coupler to the forked coupler by inserting a hinge pin through the aligned openings of the male coupler and the forked coupler, wherein the male and forked couplers extend through the pre-formed femoral and tibial articulating spacers when the male and forked couplers are hingedly coupled to one another, wherein the tibial component is configured to articulate with the femoral component when the male and forked couplers are hingedly coupled to one another.
  2. 2 . The method of performing a revision total knee arthroplasty set forth in claim 1 , wherein said hingedly coupling the male coupler to the forked coupler comprises snap-fitting the hinge pin to secure the hinge pin to the male coupler and the forked coupler.
  3. 3 . The method of performing a revision total knee arthroplasty set forth in claim 1 , wherein the femoral and tibial spacers comprise a polymeric material, wherein the antibiotic is impregnated in the polymeric material.
  4. 4 . The method of performing a revision total knee arthroplasty set forth in claim 1 , wherein said implanting a hinged articulating spacer system further includes inserting a tibial rod into a medullary canal of the tibia, wherein the hinge pin is transverse to a longitudinal axis of the tibial rod and the longitudinal axis of the tibial rod intersects the hinge pin.
  5. 5 . The method of performing a revision total knee arthroplasty set forth in claim 1 , further comprising: removing, after a period of time, the hinged articulating spacer system from the knee joint of a patient; and implanting a total knee replacement in place of the hinged articulating spacer system.
  6. 6 . The method of performing a revision total knee arthroplasty set forth in claim 1 , wherein the system is temporarily implanted for a period of time of 6 to 12 weeks after said implanting the hinged articulating spacer system.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a continuation of U.S. non-provisional application Ser. No. 17/384,594 filed Oct. 10, 2018, which is a continuation of U.S. non-provisional application Ser. No. 16/551,378, filed Aug. 26, 2019, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 11,096,788 on Aug. 24, 2021, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/743,994, filed Oct. 10, 2018, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference. FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE The present disclosure generally relates to a hinged articulating spacer system for revision knee arthroplasty. BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE Revision total knee arthroplasty (TKA) may be performed when total knee prosthesis becomes infected, for example. One type of revision TKA is performed in two operations or stages. In the first operation, as shown in FIG. 1, the knee prosthesis is removed to allow the patient and the infected joint to be treated with antibiotics over a period of time, e.g., 6 to 12 weeks. An antibiotic-loaded spacer is inserted in the joint space to maintain a certain amount of joint stability and mobility after the infected prosthesis is removed. After eradication of the infection, a second surgery is performed to implant a revision knee prosthesis. There are two types of antibiotic-loaded cement spacers: static and articulating. Referring to FIG. 2, a static spacer 10 creates a temporary arthrodesis with antibiotic-loaded bone cement (e.g., PMMA) and are typically handmade during surgery. Typically, a rigid intramedullary rod 12 is placed within the femur and tibia to span across the joint space. Referring to FIG. 3, an articulating spacer, generally indicated at 20, is typically pre-manufactured or pre-formed as femoral and tibial spacer components 24, 26, respectively, manufactured from antibiotic-loaded bone cement. The spacer components 24, 26 are secured to the respective bones using bone cement 28, for example. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a conventional surgical procedure of removing an infected total knee arthroplasty (TKA) prosthesis. FIG. 2 is a front elevation of a prior art static spacer and rigid rod implanted in a knee after removing a TKA prosthesis. FIG. 3 is a front elevation of a prior art articulating spacer implanted in a knee after removing a TKA prosthesis. FIG. 4 is a front elevation of an illustrated embodiment of an assembled hinged articulating spacer system for revision knee arthroplasty constructed according to the teachings of the present disclosure. FIG. 5 is a left side elevation of the hinged articulating spacer system in FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is an exploded side elevation of a hinged rod assembly of the hinged articulating spacer system, including a femur rod and a tibia rod. FIG. 7 is an exploded rear elevation of the hinged rod assembly, including an exploded hinge pin removed from the hinged rod assembly. FIG. 8 is an enlarged, fragmentary exploded perspective of the hinged rod assembly showing the distal and proximal ends of the femur and tibia rods, respectively. FIG. 9A is an exploded side elevation of another embodiment of hinge pin for the hinged rod assembly. FIG. 9B is a side elevation of the assembled hinge pin in FIG. 9A. FIG. 10 is a front elevation of another embodiment of a hinged rod assembly. FIG. 11A is a front elevation of a femoral spacer component of an articulating component assembly of the hinged articulating spacer system. FIG. 11B is a left side elevation of the femoral spacer component in FIG. 11A. FIG. 11C is a top plan view of the femoral spacer component in FIG. 11A. FIG. 12A is a front elevation of a tibial spacer component of the articulating component assembly of the hinged articulating spacer system. FIG. 12B is a left side elevation of the tibial spacer component in FIG. 11A. FIG. 12C is a top plan view of the tibial spacer component in FIG. 11A. FIG. 13 is a front elevation of the hinged articulating spacer system implanted in a knee after removal of a TKA prosthesis, a superior segment of an anterior portion of the femoral spacer component being broken off to show underlying bone cement. FIG. 14 is similar to FIG. 13, except the femoral spacer component is shown in full. FIG. 15 is a left side elevation of FIG. 14. FIG. 16A is a front elevation of a knee joint after removal of a TKA prosthesis and insertion of femur and tibia rods into the femur and tibia, respectively. FIG. 16B is similar to FIG. 16A with femoral and tibial spacer components inserted into the joint space. FIG. 16C is similar to FIG. 16B with the femur and tibia rods hingedly coupled to one another to assemble the hinged articulating spacer system and bone cement added within the joint space. FIG. 17A is a front elevation of another embodiment of a femoral spacer component for the hinged articulating spacer system. FIG. 17B is a side elevation of the femoral spacer component in FIG. 17A. FIG. 17C is a top plan view of the femoral sp