Contact of implants with high-frequency cauterising instruments has serious implications for patient safety. Studies have reported a possible direct connection of fatigue failure of Ti–6Al–4V implants with electrocautery contact. Such contacts were observed at the polished neck of titanium hip stems, which are subjected to high-tension loads. Evidence of electrocautery contact has also been found on a retrieved spinal fixator with a rough surface; however, no fatigue failure related to electrocautery contact has been reported thus far. The influence of the heat-affected zone caused by flashover on the mechanical behaviour of the Ti–6Al–4V titanium alloy is not yet fully understood. Then, the aim of this study was to investigate whether the polished areas of Ti–6Al–4V implants are especially susceptible to fatigue failure after electrocautery contact.

Flashovers caused by electrocautery contact were induced on titanium specimens with different surface roughnesses. These specimens were subjected to cyclic loading in a four-point-bending test setup, which represented the stress resulting from physiological loading activities (~861 MPa).

In this test setup, electrocautery contact was found to reduce the fatigue strength of the titanium alloy significantly—by up to 96%—as revealed from the median value of the cycles to failure. Cycles to failure showed a dependence on the flashover duration, with a flashover for 40 ms leading to fatigue fracture. Despite the lower fatigue strength of a rough polished surface in the undamaged state, it is less prone to the damaging effect of flashover than a smooth polished surface.

植入物与高频烧灼仪的接触对​​患者的安全具有严重的影响。研究报告说，Ti-6Al-4V植入物的疲劳失效可能与电灼接触直接相关。在钛制髋骨杆的抛光颈部观察到了这种接触，该杆承受了高压负荷。在表面粗糙的脊柱固定器上也发现了电灼接触的证据。但是，到目前为止，尚未见与电灼接触有关的疲劳破坏。闪络引起的热影响区对Ti-6Al-4V钛合金机械性能的影响尚不完全清楚。然后，

由电灼接触引起的闪络是在具有不同表面粗糙度的钛试样上引起的。这些样品在四点弯曲测试装置中经受循环载荷，该载荷代表了生理载荷活动（〜861 MPa）所产生的应力。

在此测试装置中，发现电灼接触可显着降低钛合金的疲劳强度，最多可降低96％，这从故障循环的中值可以看出。失效周期显示出取决于闪络持续时间，闪络持续40 ms会导致疲劳断裂。尽管在未损坏状态下粗糙抛光表面的疲劳强度较低，但与光滑抛光表面相比，它不易遭受飞弧的破坏作用。