Laser etching causing fatigue fracture at the neck-shoulder junction of an uncemented femoral stem: A case report.

Fatigue fracture of a femoral component in total hip arthroplasty is a rare occurrence but well documented in the literature. It is understood that proximal loosing of a femoral stem with a well fixed stem distally will result in cantilever bending and eventual fatigue fracture of the stem. Other factors which may potentiate a fatigue fracture are material design, implant positioning, and patient characteristics. More recently, laser etching on the femoral neck of an implant has resulted in fatigue fracture. We report a case of a fatigue fracture at the neck-shoulder junction in a well fixed, uncemented, femoral component due to laser etching in the region of high tensile stress.