Relationship to drill bit diameter and residual fracture resistance of the distal tibia.

Background: The etiology of bone refractures after screw removal can be attributed to residual drill hole defects. This biomechanical study compared the torsional strength of bones containing various sized cortical drill defects in a tibia model.

Methods: Bicortical drill hole defects of 3 mm, 4 mm, and 5 mm diameters were tested in 26 composite tibias versus intact controls without a drill defect.

How Does Tibial Pin Placement in Navigated Total Knee Arthroplasty Affect the Torsional Strength of the Tibia?

Introduction: Surgical navigation technology has recently become more prevalent for total knee arthroplasty. Surgical navigation typically requires pin placement in the proximal tibia diaphysis to stabilize the bone-tracking hardware, and there have been several recent reports of fractures through these residual navigation pin holes. The objective of this biomechanical study was to determine whether a difference exists in the torsional bone strength of a 5-mm navigation pin hole drilled at a single location in three different orientations: unicortical, bicortical, and transcortical.

Does coating an intramedullary nail with polymethylmethacrylate improve mechanical stability at the fracture site?

Background: Treatment of tibia diaphyseal fractures with intramedullary nail fixation has proven to be effective. An increasingly popular practice is to coat the nail with bone cement incorporating antibiotics for the purpose of treating and/or preventing infection. To date, the effect of coating on the mechanical performance of the intramedullary nail once implanted is unknown.

Cervical Spine Fusion: Biomechanics of a Three-Level Cadaver Model Comparing Anterior Plate versus Stand-Alone Cage.

Study Design-Biomechanical cadaveric study. Objective-Long anterior cervical plate and cage (APC) constructs have a risk of pseudarthrosis with minor bone resorption. Stand-alone cages (SACs) allow settling.

Relationships Among Bone Morphological Parameters and Mechanical Properties of Cadaveric Human Vertebral Cancellous Bone.

Mechanical properties and morphological features of the vertebral cancellous bone are related to resistance to fracture and capability of withstanding surgical treatments. In particular, vertebral strength is related to its elastic properties, whereas the ease of fluid motion, related to the success of incorporation orthopedic materials (eg, bone cement), is regulated by the hydraulic permeability (K). It has been shown that both elastic modulus and permeability of a material are affected by its morphology.