Factor analysis of the effectiveness of transfixation and rod characteristics on the TSRH screw-rod instrumentation.

The effects of Texas Scottish Rite Hospital (TSRH) hardware parameters (rod length and diameter and cross-link) and their interaction on the stiffness of the TSRH pedicle screw-rod construct were evaluated. Four TSRH screws were assembled in pairs to two polymethyl-methacrylate blocks to resemble a one-level or more corpectomy model and the construct underwent nondestructive torsional, extension, and flexion loading. In every loading test, each construct was tested using TSRH rods of different lengths (10, 15, and 20 cm) and diameters (4.9 and 6.5 mm) and different cross-links (TSRH and two new types made for this experiment). We compared the stiffness of the construct without cross-linking with that with single or double TSRH cross-linking, or either the closed new-type cross-link (closed NTC) or the open new-type cross-link (open NTC) using factor analysis. There was no axial slipping of one rod versus the other up to a force of 100 kg. The stiffness of the construct in all three loading modes increased as the rod length decreased, the rod diameter increased, and the construct was augmented with a cross-link. The closed NTC provided the greatest stiffness and the single TSRH provided the least stiffness. Unaugmented 10-cm-long rods showed two or three times more torsional stiffness than did that of the longer unaugmented rods independent of rod diameter. In addition, the closed NTC offered the maximal increase in flexion stiffness of the construct with thick rods and 10-, 15-, and 20-cm-long rods at a maximum of 40%, 27%, and 30%, respectively. This rigid closed NTC increased the extension stiffness of the same construct with 10- and 15-cm-long rods at 40% and 6%, respectively, whereas it had no influence on the extension stiffness of 20-cm-long rods.