User LoginAdmin LoginSubscribe
JBJS Clinical Classroom Logo

The JBJS Quiz of the Month is a collection of 10 relevant questions from each orthopaedic subspecialty. The questions are drawn from JBJS Clinical Classroom, which houses over 4,500 questions and 3,100 learning resources. Take the Quiz to see how you score against your peers!

NOTE: This quiz does not earn users CME credits. The questions must be answered within Clinical Classroom to earn CME credits.

The addition of vitamin E to polyethylene has shown promise in total hip arthroplasty. Which of the following is the main purpose of adding vitamin E to polyethylene?
    • Stabilize free radicals and prevent oxidative degradation
      • By stabilizing free radicals, vitamin E has been shown to prevent oxidative degradation and increase mechanical strength.

 

    • Eliminate the need for irradiation
      • Vitamin E does not eliminate the need for irradiation of polyethylene because it does not contribute to cross-linking.

 

    • Provide increased structural stability between polyethylene chains
      • Vitamin E acts to decrease free radicals. It does not provide increased structural stability between polyethylene chains.

 

    • Lower the annealing temperature to facilitate ease of production
      • Vitamin E has no effect on the annealing temperature, but one could argue that by helping stabilize free radicals it enables one to chose annealing as a processing method instead of remelting as a way to preserve mechanical properties. The purpose of adding vitamin E to polyethylene, however, is to stabilize free radicals.

 

 

Menu