Biomechanical properties of new mini compression screws

Chinh Nguyen, Dishan Singh, Mark Harrison, Gordon Blunn, Amir Herman, Israel Dudkiewicz

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The aim of the current study was to compare the compression forces achieved by the new commercial mini compression screws in cortical and cancellous bone.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The following screws were tested: AO partially threaded 4-mm cancellous screw, AO 3.5- and 2.7-mm cortical screws (Synthes - USA) , self-tapping cannulated 3-mm VisAntares (EOS - France), 3- and 2.3-mm Omnitech (Biotech - France), 3-mm Barouk (DePuy - France), and 3-mm Bold screws (Newdeal - France). The compression forces of screws in bone were tested using a load cell between pieces of longitudinally-split sheep tibias as a cortical and cancellous bone model.

RESULTS: The AO 3.5-mm, 2.7-mm cortical and 4.0-mm partially threaded cancellous headed screws provided significantly (p < = 0.05) better compression forces than all the tested headless screws, both in cortical and cancellous bone. A loss of compression was noted when the headless screws were totally countersunk.

CONCLUSION: The cortical and cancellous screws with heads provided superior compression than headless screws.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Headed screws may be preferable to headless differential pitch screws in situations where compression is important ie, arthrodeses or fracture fixation. Care should be taken not to countersink the headless screws during insertion into cortical bone.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)545-50
Number of pages6
JournalFoot and Ankle International
Volume30
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2009

Keywords

  • Arthrodesis
  • Biomechanical Phenomena
  • Bone Screws
  • Equipment Design
  • Fracture Fixation
  • Materials Testing

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