O objetivo do estudo foi avaliar a influência do diâmetro do orifício piloto e a freqüência da colocação dos implantes no torque de inserção e na resistência ao arrancamento. Foram utilizados parafusos de 5, 6 e 7mm do sistema USS de fixação vertebral, os quais foram inseridos nos corpos de prova de madeira, poliuretana, polietileno e osso bovino. Para inserção dos implantes foram confeccionados com broca orifícios piloto com diâmetros menor, igual e maior que o diâmetro interno do parafuso. O torque de inserção dos parafusos avaliado nos corpos de prova de madeira foi mensurado por meio de torquímetro com capacidade de 5Nm, e nos demais corpos de prova foi utilizado torquímetro de 2Nm. Os ensaios mecânicos de arrancamento dos parafusos foram realizados utilizando máquina universal de ensaio Emic? e Software Tesc 3.13 para análise dos resultados, utilizando células de carga com capacidade de 2000 N e 20000 N, selecionadas de acordo com a resistência mecânica de cada corpo de prova, e com velocidade de aplicação de força de 2 mm/min. Os valores do torque de inserção dos parafusos de 5, 6 e 7mm de diâmetro externo, nos diferentes materiais, apresentaram maiores valores de torque na primeira inserção, com exceção dos corpos de prova de poliuretana com orifício piloto de 5,5mm. O diâmetro do orifício piloto em relação ao diâmetro interno do parafuso apresentou influência no torque de inserção dos implantes, nos diferentes corpos de prova, observando maior torque de inserção nos corpos de prova com orifício piloto menor que o diâmetro interno do parafuso e menor torque de inserção nos corpos de prova com diâmetro do orifício piloto maior que o diâmetro interno do parafuso. A força máxima de arrancamento nos parafusos de 5, 6 e 7mm de diâmetro externo, inseridos nos diferentes corpos de prova, apresentaram maiores valores na primeira inserção nos diferentes diâmetros de orifício piloto. O diâmetro do orifício piloto em relação ao diâmetro interno do parafuso apresentou influência na força máxima de arrancamento dos implantes, nos diferentes corpos de prova, observando maior força de arrancamento nos corpos de prova com orifício piloto menor que o diâmetro interno do parafuso e menor força de arrancamento nos corpos de prova com diâmetro do orifício piloto maior que o diâmetro interno do parafuso. Podemos concluir que a freqüência de colocação dos implantes influencia na qualidade da ancoragem. A realização de menor freqüência de colocação dos implantes proporciona uma melhor fixação. A perfuração do orifício piloto com instrumental de menor diâmetro, em relação ao diâmetro interno do parafuso, tende a apresentar melhor fixação do parafuso que a perfuração com diâmetro maior. / The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of the diameter of the pilot hole and the frequency of screw placement on pullout out resistance and insertion torque of the pedicle screw. Pedicle screws of 5, 6 and 7mm of the USS system for vertebral fixation were inserted into wood, polyurethane, polyethylene and bovine bone. The pilot hole for screw insertion was drilled with small, equal and wider than the internal diameter of the screw. The insertion torque was measured in the wood test bodies used a torquímetro with capacity of 5Nm, and other test bodies was used a torquimetro of 2Nm. Mechanical pullout assays were performed using a universal testing machine rehearsals of screws pullout were accomplished using universal machine Emic® and Software Tesc 3.13 for analysis of the results. Load cells were using with capacity of 2000 N and 20000 N, selected in agreement with the mechanical resistance of each test bodies. A constant displacement rate of 2mm/min was applied until failure. The values of the insertion torque of the screws of 5, 6 and 7mm of external diameter, in the different materials, they presented highest insertion torque in the first insert, in the different materials, except for the polyurethane test bodies with pilot hole of 5,5mm. The diameter of the pilot hole in relation to the internal diameter of the screw exerts an influence in the torque of insert of the implants. We observed highest insert torque in the test bodies with smaller pilot hole than the internal diameter of the screw and smaller insert torque in the proof bodies with diameter of the wider pilot hole than the internal diameter of the screw. The pullout resistance of the screws of 5, 6 and 7mm of external diameter performed highest values in the first screw insert, in the different diameters of pilot hole and test bodies. The diameter of the pilot hole in relation to the internal diameter of the screw exerts an influence in the pullout resistance of the implants. The highest pullout resistance was observed in the test bodies with smaller pilot hole than the internal diameter of the screw. The smaller pullout resistance was observed in the test bodies with diameter of the larger pilot hole than the internal diameter of the screw. We can conclude that the frequency of placement of the implants influences in the quality of the anchorage. The accomplishment of smaller frequency of placement of the implants provides a better fixation. The perforation of the pilot hole with instrumental of smaller diameter, in relation to the internal diameter of the screw, tends to present better fixation of the screw than the perforation with larger diameter.

O objetivo do estudo foi avaliar a influência do diâmetro do orifício piloto e a freqüência da colocação dos implantes no torque de inserção e na resistência ao arrancamento. Foram utilizados parafusos de 5, 6 e 7mm do sistema USS de fixação vertebral, os quais foram inseridos nos corpos de prova de madeira, poliuretana, polietileno e osso bovino. Para inserção dos implantes foram confeccionados com broca orifícios piloto com diâmetros menor, igual e maior que o diâmetro interno do parafuso. O torque de inserção dos parafusos avaliado nos corpos de prova de madeira foi mensurado por meio de torquímetro com capacidade de 5Nm, e nos demais corpos de prova foi utilizado torquímetro de 2Nm. Os ensaios mecânicos de arrancamento dos parafusos foram realizados utilizando máquina universal de ensaio Emic? e Software Tesc 3.13 para análise dos resultados, utilizando células de carga com capacidade de 2000 N e 20000 N, selecionadas de acordo com a resistência mecânica de cada corpo de prova, e com velocidade de aplicação de força de 2 mm/min. Os valores do torque de inserção dos parafusos de 5, 6 e 7mm de diâmetro externo, nos diferentes materiais, apresentaram maiores valores de torque na primeira inserção, com exceção dos corpos de prova de poliuretana com orifício piloto de 5,5mm. O diâmetro do orifício piloto em relação ao diâmetro interno do parafuso apresentou influência no torque de inserção dos implantes, nos diferentes corpos de prova, observando maior torque de inserção nos corpos de prova com orifício piloto menor que o diâmetro interno do parafuso e menor torque de inserção nos corpos de prova com diâmetro do orifício piloto maior que o diâmetro interno do parafuso. A força máxima de arrancamento nos parafusos de 5, 6 e 7mm de diâmetro externo, inseridos nos diferentes corpos de prova, apresentaram maiores valores na primeira inserção nos diferentes diâmetros de orifício piloto. O diâmetro do orifício piloto em relação ao diâmetro interno do parafuso apresentou influência na força máxima de arrancamento dos implantes, nos diferentes corpos de prova, observando maior força de arrancamento nos corpos de prova com orifício piloto menor que o diâmetro interno do parafuso e menor força de arrancamento nos corpos de prova com diâmetro do orifício piloto maior que o diâmetro interno do parafuso. Podemos concluir que a freqüência de colocação dos implantes influencia na qualidade da ancoragem. A realização de menor freqüência de colocação dos implantes proporciona uma melhor fixação. A perfuração do orifício piloto com instrumental de menor diâmetro, em relação ao diâmetro interno do parafuso, tende a apresentar melhor fixação do parafuso que a perfuração com diâmetro maior. / The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of the diameter of the pilot hole and the frequency of screw placement on pullout out resistance and insertion torque of the pedicle screw. Pedicle screws of 5, 6 and 7mm of the USS system for vertebral fixation were inserted into wood, polyurethane, polyethylene and bovine bone. The pilot hole for screw insertion was drilled with small, equal and wider than the internal diameter of the screw. The insertion torque was measured in the wood test bodies used a torquímetro with capacity of 5Nm, and other test bodies was used a torquimetro of 2Nm. Mechanical pullout assays were performed using a universal testing machine rehearsals of screws pullout were accomplished using universal machine Emic® and Software Tesc 3.13 for analysis of the results. Load cells were using with capacity of 2000 N and 20000 N, selected in agreement with the mechanical resistance of each test bodies. A constant displacement rate of 2mm/min was applied until failure. The values of the insertion torque of the screws of 5, 6 and 7mm of external diameter, in the different materials, they presented highest insertion torque in the first insert, in the different materials, except for the polyurethane test bodies with pilot hole of 5,5mm. The diameter of the pilot hole in relation to the internal diameter of the screw exerts an influence in the torque of insert of the implants. We observed highest insert torque in the test bodies with smaller pilot hole than the internal diameter of the screw and smaller insert torque in the proof bodies with diameter of the wider pilot hole than the internal diameter of the screw. The pullout resistance of the screws of 5, 6 and 7mm of external diameter performed highest values in the first screw insert, in the different diameters of pilot hole and test bodies. The diameter of the pilot hole in relation to the internal diameter of the screw exerts an influence in the pullout resistance of the implants. The highest pullout resistance was observed in the test bodies with smaller pilot hole than the internal diameter of the screw. The smaller pullout resistance was observed in the test bodies with diameter of the larger pilot hole than the internal diameter of the screw. We can conclude that the frequency of placement of the implants influences in the quality of the anchorage. The accomplishment of smaller frequency of placement of the implants provides a better fixation. The perforation of the pilot hole with instrumental of smaller diameter, in relation to the internal diameter of the screw, tends to present better fixation of the screw than the perforation with larger diameter.

No description available.

A cirurgia da coluna vertebral tem se desenvolvido muito nos últimos anos em decorrência da evolução dos sistemas de fixação. O comportamento da interface do parafuso com o osso continua sendo um aspecto não muito dominado. Como o parafuso é a âncora de sustentação, o trabalho procura investigar as técnicas de introdução do parafuso pedicular. Para atingir esse objetivo desenvolvemos o trabalho por meio de estudo com ensaios mecânicos de arrancamento e estudo histológico. Dois tipos de parafusos pediculares foram utilizados: parafuso pedicular do sistema USIS (Ulrich) e parafuso pedicular do sistema USS (Synthes). Os ensaios de arrancamento foram realizados em corpos de prova de madeira e poliuretano. O estudo histológico foi realizado em vértebras lombares de cadáver humano. No estudo envolvendo o parafuso USIS, foram testados os seguintes parâmetros: orifícios feitos com sonda e orifícios feitos com broca, todos do mesmo diâmetro do diâmetro interno do parafuso. Também foi testado o efeito do macheamento em relação ao não macheamento, nos orifícios feitos com broca. No estudo com os parafusos USS foram testados o efeito do diâmetro do orifício piloto tanto no estudo histológico como no arrancamento. No arrancamento destes parafusos também foi testado o efeito do tipo de orifício feito com sonda e com broca. O trabalho foi dividido em etapas: Primeira etapa foi o estudo de arrancamento do parafuso USIS; segunda etapa, estudo histológico de vértebra instrumentada com parafuso USIS, esta parte do trabalho foi constituída por análise de microscopia de luz e microscopia eletrônica de varredura; terceira etapa foi o arrancamento do parafuso USS; e quarta etapa foi o estudo histológico de vértebra instrumentada com parafuso USS. Os resultados da primeira etapa demonstraram que sonda teve efeito melhor do que broca, porque o resultado dos ensaios de arrancamento nos orifícios feitos com sondas teve maior força de arrancamento do que nos orifícios feitos por brocas. Na segunda etapa, análise histológica, verificou-se que os orifícios feitos por sonda apresentaram-se menores e com menor índice de fragmentação ao redor dos orifícios. Esses feitos tiveram diferença estatística significante, tanto na primeira, quanto na segunda etapa. Com relação ao macheamento não foi constatada diferença entre o não macheamento, em nenhuma das duas etapas. Na terceira etapa foi observado que, quando o orifício piloto ultrapassa o diâmetro interno do parafuso, ocorre tendência de queda na força de arrancamento de modo significativo, enquanto que orifício menor que o orifício piloto não tende a causar muita diferença na força de arrancamento em relação ao orifício correspondente ao diâmetro interno do parafuso. Também foi observado que o orifício feito com sonda oferece melhor força de ancoragem do que orifício feito com broca. Na quarta etapa foi constatado que quanto menor a broca para abrir o orifício piloto, menor o diâmetro do orifício, e não houve diferença significativa quanto ao índice de fragmentação ao redor do orifício entre os diferentes tamanhos de broca. Como conclusão pode-se dizer que sonda é melhor para se fazer o orifício piloto, uma vez que alarga menos o orifício, lesa menos as trabéculas ao redor do orifício e proporciona maior força de ancoragem do que broca. Também se pode concluir que o instrumental de menor diâmetro para abertura do orifício piloto é melhor, e o ponto crítico seria o diâmetro interno do parafuso. Não se deve fazer orifício piloto com instrumento de diâmetro maior que o diâmetro interno do parafuso. Não se constatou vantagem em relação ao fato de realizar ou deixar de realizar o macheamento. / Spine surgery has developed a lot in the last years because of the evolution of the fixation system. The behavior of a screw in the bone is still unknown in many ways. Because the screw is the anchor of sustentation, this work tries to find the answers involving the pedicle screw fixation. To reach this objective we developed this work based on mechanical and histological studies. Two kinds of pedicle screws were used: pedicle screw of the USIS (Ulrich) and pedicle screw of the USS system (Synthes). The pullout tests were made in wood and polyurethane. The histological study was done in lumbar vertebra of humans. In the study about the USIS screw, the follow parameters were tested: hole done with probe and hole done with drill, all of the same inner diameter of the screw. The effect of tapping and not tapping the hole done with drill was tested. In the USS screw study, the effect of the diameter pilot hole in the pullout tests and its historical analysis was seen. In the pullout tests of these screws, both kind of holes done with probes and a drill were tested. The work was divided into stages; first stage was the study of the pullout of the USIS screw; second stage was two studies, a light-microscopic one and a sweeping-electronic-microscope one of the slides of the instrumented vertebra with USIS screws; third stage was the study of the USS screws pullout comparing the relationship between the diameter of the holes and the inner diameter of the screw together with the type of hole (drill and probe); fourth stage was light-microscopic histological study of the instrumented vertebras which had had USIS screws. Results of the first stage showed that probes were more efficient than drills because the mechanical tests of pullouts from probe-made-holes showed the need of the use of a stronger force. In the second stage, a light-microscopic analysis showed that probe-made-holes had a lesser minimum diameter and a lower index of fragmentation than drill-made holes. With relation to the tapping, there was no difference between the holes. Under electronic microscope sweeping, it was seen that probes betters compact the bone around the screw. In the third stage, it was seen that when 9 the pilot orifice was greater than the screws internal diameter a significantly lower force was needed for pullout, while when the pilot orifice was smaller it did not significantly increase the force needed. It was also seen that probe-made-holes had a better anchorage than the drill-made-holes. In the fourth stage, the histological analysis of the slides done with light-microscopy showed that the smaller the diameter of the drill the smaller minimum diameter; there was no significant difference between fragmentation indexes. Conclusion: Probes are better than drills to make a pilot hole because they cause less damage to the surrounding bone and give a stronger anchorage for the screw; the smaller the instrument used to make the pilot hole, better will be the strength of the screws anchorage; the critical point which the hole must not exceed is the internal diameter of the screw. Tapping, or not, makes no difference to the anchorage.

Foi realizado estudo experimental com a finalidade de avaliar a participação do osso cortical e osso esponjoso dos pedículos vertebrais, na fixação dos parafusos pediculares. Foram utilizados 10 segmentos de coluna lombar de adultos, retirados durante autópsia. O diâmetro dos pedículos das vértebras de L1 a L5 foram avaliados, considerando o diâmetro total e o diâmetyro do osso esponjoso, tendo sido realizadas essas medidas por meio de tomografia computadorizada e medida direta. Os segmentos da coluna vertebral foram divididos em dois grupos para o estudo, sendo que cada grupo era formado por 5 conjuntos de segmentos da coluna lombar. No primeiro grupo a perfuração era realizada segundo os pontos de orientação utilizados nos procedimentos cirúrgicos ( faceta articular e processo transverso). No segundo grupo foi realizado corte transversal na porção média do pedículo, de modo que a perfuração e introdução dos parafusos no seu interior foram efetuados sob visão diereta. Após a perfuração dos pedículos utilizando-se broca de 3 mm, os parafusos eram introduzidos no interior do pedículo vertebral em ordem crescente de seus diâmetros, até que fosse observada alteração estrutural do pedículo, que eram avaliados por meio de medidas sucessivas, utilizando-se paquímetro e observação direta. Foram utilizados parafusos com diâmetro que variou de 3 a 12,5 mm, com progressão de 0,5 mm. Quando o diâmetro do parafuso excedia a resistência estrutural do pedículo, duas lesões foram observadas, a deformação plástica e o rompimento. No grupo I houve um número maior de deformação plástica, mas pelos cálculos estatísticos não houve diferença significativa entre os grupos. Os diâmetro tomográficos obtidos pela medida tomográfica e medida direta apresentaram-se diferentes e sem correlação entre si. No grupo II, como os parafuos foram introduzidos de modo mais centralizado, houve maior número de parafusos com diâmetro maior que o diâmetro do osso esponjoso, mas também não apresentou diferença entre os grupos, segundo avaliações estatísticas. Análise dos valores do diâmetro pedicular, diâmetro do osso esponjoso e do parafuso de maior diâmetro introduzido sem lesar o pedículo permitiu observar que a camada de osso cortical do pedículo foi pouco ocupada pelo parafuso em ambos os grupos. O valor médio da porcentagem do diâmetro do pedículo ocupado pelo parafuso no grupo I foi de 70,7% e no grupo II 75,34%. Foi observado que os parafusos, de um modo geral, apresentaram ancoragem principalmente na porção de osso esponjoso do pedículo vertebral, tendo sido pequena a porcentagem de osso cortical do pedículo vertebral utilizado para a sua ancoragem. / Spine surgery has developed a lot in the last years because of the evolution of the fixation system. The behavior of a screw in the bone is still unknown in many ways. Because the screw is the anchor of sustentation, this work tries to find the answers involving the pedicle screw fixation. To reach this objective we developed this work based on mechanical and histological studies. Two kinds of pedicle screws were used: pedicle screw of the USIS (Ulrich) and pedicle screw of the USS system (Synthes). The pullout tests were made in wood and polyurethane. The histological study was done in lumbar vertebra of humans. In the study about the USIS screw, the follow parameters were tested: hole done with probe and hole done with drill, all of the same inner diameter of the screw. The effect of tapping and not tapping the hole done with drill was tested. In the USS screw study, the effect of the diameter pilot hole in the pullout tests and its historical analysis was seen. In the pullout tests of these screws, both kind of holes done with probes and a drill were tested. The work was divided into stages; first stage was the study of the pullout of the USIS screw; second stage was two studies, a light-microscopic one and a sweeping-electronic-microscope one of the slides of the instrumented vertebra with USIS screws; third stage was the study of the USS screws pullout comparing the relationship between the diameter of the holes and the inner diameter of the screw together with the type of hole (drill and probe); fourth stage was light-microscopic histological study of the instrumented vertebras which had had USIS screws. Results of the first stage showed that probes were more efficient than drills because the mechanical tests of pullouts from probe-made-holes showed the need of the use of a stronger force. In the second stage, a light-microscopic analysis showed that probe-made-holes had a lesser minimum diameter and a lower index of fragmentation than drill-made holes. With relation to the tapping, there was no difference between the holes. Under electronic microscope sweeping, it was seen that probes betters compact the bone around the screw. In the third stage, it was seen that when the pilot orifice was greater than the screws internal diameter a significantly lower force was needed for pullout, while when the pilot orifice was smaller it did not significantly increase the force needed. It was also seen that probe-made-holes had a better anchorage than the drill-made-holes. In the fourth stage, the histological analysis of the slides done with light-microscopy showed that the smaller the diameter of the drill the smaller minimum diameter; there was no significant difference between fragmentation indexes. Conclusion: Probes are better than drills to make a pilot hole because they cause less damage to the surrounding bone and give a stronger anchorage for the screw; the smaller the instrument used to make the pilot hole, better will be the strength of the screw\'s anchorage; the critical point which the hole must not exceed is the internal diameter of the screw. Tapping, or not, makes no difference to the anchorage.

A cirurgia da coluna vertebral tem se desenvolvido muito nos últimos anos em decorrência da evolução dos sistemas de fixação. O comportamento da interface do parafuso com o osso continua sendo um aspecto não muito dominado. Como o parafuso é a âncora de sustentação, o trabalho procura investigar as técnicas de introdução do parafuso pedicular. Para atingir esse objetivo desenvolvemos o trabalho por meio de estudo com ensaios mecânicos de arrancamento e estudo histológico. Dois tipos de parafusos pediculares foram utilizados: parafuso pedicular do sistema USIS (Ulrich) e parafuso pedicular do sistema USS (Synthes). Os ensaios de arrancamento foram realizados em corpos de prova de madeira e poliuretano. O estudo histológico foi realizado em vértebras lombares de cadáver humano. No estudo envolvendo o parafuso USIS, foram testados os seguintes parâmetros: orifícios feitos com sonda e orifícios feitos com broca, todos do mesmo diâmetro do diâmetro interno do parafuso. Também foi testado o efeito do macheamento em relação ao não macheamento, nos orifícios feitos com broca. No estudo com os parafusos USS foram testados o efeito do diâmetro do orifício piloto tanto no estudo histológico como no arrancamento. No arrancamento destes parafusos também foi testado o efeito do tipo de orifício feito com sonda e com broca. O trabalho foi dividido em etapas: Primeira etapa foi o estudo de arrancamento do parafuso USIS; segunda etapa, estudo histológico de vértebra instrumentada com parafuso USIS, esta parte do trabalho foi constituída por análise de microscopia de luz e microscopia eletrônica de varredura; terceira etapa foi o arrancamento do parafuso USS; e quarta etapa foi o estudo histológico de vértebra instrumentada com parafuso USS. Os resultados da primeira etapa demonstraram que sonda teve efeito melhor do que broca, porque o resultado dos ensaios de arrancamento nos orifícios feitos com sondas teve maior força de arrancamento do que nos orifícios feitos por brocas. Na segunda etapa, análise histológica, verificou-se que os orifícios feitos por sonda apresentaram-se menores e com menor índice de fragmentação ao redor dos orifícios. Esses feitos tiveram diferença estatística significante, tanto na primeira, quanto na segunda etapa. Com relação ao macheamento não foi constatada diferença entre o não macheamento, em nenhuma das duas etapas. Na terceira etapa foi observado que, quando o orifício piloto ultrapassa o diâmetro interno do parafuso, ocorre tendência de queda na força de arrancamento de modo significativo, enquanto que orifício menor que o orifício piloto não tende a causar muita diferença na força de arrancamento em relação ao orifício correspondente ao diâmetro interno do parafuso. Também foi observado que o orifício feito com sonda oferece melhor força de ancoragem do que orifício feito com broca. Na quarta etapa foi constatado que quanto menor a broca para abrir o orifício piloto, menor o diâmetro do orifício, e não houve diferença significativa quanto ao índice de fragmentação ao redor do orifício entre os diferentes tamanhos de broca. Como conclusão pode-se dizer que sonda é melhor para se fazer o orifício piloto, uma vez que alarga menos o orifício, lesa menos as trabéculas ao redor do orifício e proporciona maior força de ancoragem do que broca. Também se pode concluir que o instrumental de menor diâmetro para abertura do orifício piloto é melhor, e o ponto crítico seria o diâmetro interno do parafuso. Não se deve fazer orifício piloto com instrumento de diâmetro maior que o diâmetro interno do parafuso. Não se constatou vantagem em relação ao fato de realizar ou deixar de realizar o macheamento. / Spine surgery has developed a lot in the last years because of the evolution of the fixation system. The behavior of a screw in the bone is still unknown in many ways. Because the screw is the anchor of sustentation, this work tries to find the answers involving the pedicle screw fixation. To reach this objective we developed this work based on mechanical and histological studies. Two kinds of pedicle screws were used: pedicle screw of the USIS (Ulrich) and pedicle screw of the USS system (Synthes). The pullout tests were made in wood and polyurethane. The histological study was done in lumbar vertebra of humans. In the study about the USIS screw, the follow parameters were tested: hole done with probe and hole done with drill, all of the same inner diameter of the screw. The effect of tapping and not tapping the hole done with drill was tested. In the USS screw study, the effect of the diameter pilot hole in the pullout tests and its historical analysis was seen. In the pullout tests of these screws, both kind of holes done with probes and a drill were tested. The work was divided into stages; first stage was the study of the pullout of the USIS screw; second stage was two studies, a light-microscopic one and a sweeping-electronic-microscope one of the slides of the instrumented vertebra with USIS screws; third stage was the study of the USS screws pullout comparing the relationship between the diameter of the holes and the inner diameter of the screw together with the type of hole (drill and probe); fourth stage was light-microscopic histological study of the instrumented vertebras which had had USIS screws. Results of the first stage showed that probes were more efficient than drills because the mechanical tests of pullouts from probe-made-holes showed the need of the use of a stronger force. In the second stage, a light-microscopic analysis showed that probe-made-holes had a lesser minimum diameter and a lower index of fragmentation than drill-made holes. With relation to the tapping, there was no difference between the holes. Under electronic microscope sweeping, it was seen that probes betters compact the bone around the screw. In the third stage, it was seen that when 9 the pilot orifice was greater than the screws internal diameter a significantly lower force was needed for pullout, while when the pilot orifice was smaller it did not significantly increase the force needed. It was also seen that probe-made-holes had a better anchorage than the drill-made-holes. In the fourth stage, the histological analysis of the slides done with light-microscopy showed that the smaller the diameter of the drill the smaller minimum diameter; there was no significant difference between fragmentation indexes. Conclusion: Probes are better than drills to make a pilot hole because they cause less damage to the surrounding bone and give a stronger anchorage for the screw; the smaller the instrument used to make the pilot hole, better will be the strength of the screws anchorage; the critical point which the hole must not exceed is the internal diameter of the screw. Tapping, or not, makes no difference to the anchorage.

This research project presents a study of the fixation of screws in augmented and non-augmented cancellous bone at a microscopic scale. It is estimated that somewhere close to one million screws are failing each year. Therefore, the aim is to identify the key parameters affecting screw pull-out in order to improve screw fixation in cancellous bone, and hence screw design. The background for this study comes from work by Stryker, comparing screw pull-out from augmented and non-augmented cancellous bone, where a few cases of screw pull-out gave better results without bone augmentation. This is contrary to most evidence and the hypothesis to explain these results is that the screw pull-out from cancellous bone could be strongly affected by the cancellous bone micro architecture. The effect of the influence of the screw’s initial position was first verified with 2D finite element (FE) models of screw pull-out from simplified cancellous bone models. The results showed a force reaction variation up to 28% with small change in position. The hypothesis was then tested with 3D FE models of screw pull-out from more complex cancellous bone models with different volume fractions. Three volume fractions were tested and again the effects were confirmed, but only in models with the lower volume fraction. A variation up to 30% of the force reaction was observed. The 3D simplified cancellous bone models with 5.3% volume fraction were also used to study the influence of augmentation using calcium phosphate cement. A significant improvement of the screw holding power (almost 2 times) as well as an important diminution of the variability of the pull-out force due to the screw initial position was found. Other augmentation geometries were used to model cement. They all showed an increase of the screw pull-out force reaction with an increase of the cement volume. Validation of FE results was achieved by comparing screw pull-out from a cadaver cancellous bone and the FE model constructed from the same bone sample. New studies were then carried out from the cadaver cancellous bone model. The first study examined the screw initial position influence with cancellous and cortical screws and again showed that there is a strong correlation between screw pull-out stiffness and bone volume fraction. The cortical screw showed improved performance over the cancellous screw. Augmentation cases were explored using three bone samples with a range of volume fractions obtained from different sites within the cadaver bone sample. The cancellous screw was tested with 3 types of augmentation and the cortical screw was tested with one augmentation in these 3 samples. The results showed each time a significant improvement of stiffness with augmentation but when compared with the effect of volume variation inside the bone sample, it appeared that the improvement of stiffness from augmentation might not cover the loss in stiffness from a small change in bone structure. Finally, screw design parameters were investigated, as cortical screws seemed to give as good or better stiffness results than cancellous screw. The thread pitch, the thread angle and the core diameter were analysed independently and it appeared that the most important parameter was the thread pitch with an improvement of the stiffness of +46% for cancellous screws with a smaller thread pitch. The two other factors studied (core diameter and thread angle) showed somewhat stiffer results but with a relatively small influence (less than 10%). From this study, the best screw for use in cancellous bone could be a cortical screw (diameter and pitch) with thread angles similar to a cancellous screw.

Trabecular bone is a porous composite material which consists of a mineral phase (mainly hydroxyapatite), organic phase (mostly type I collagen) and water assembled into a complex, hierarchical structure. In biomechanical modelling, its mechanical response to loads is generally assumed to be instantaneous, i.e. it is treated as a time-independent material. It is, however, recognised that the response of trabecular bone to loads is time-dependent. Study of this time-dependent behaviour is important in several contexts such as: to understand energy dissipation ability of bone; to understand the age-related non-traumatic fractures; to predict implant loosening due to cyclic loading; to understand progressive vertebral deformity; and for pre-clinical evaluation of total joint replacement. To investigate time-dependent behaviour, bovine trabecular bone samples were subjected to compressive loading, creep, unloading and recovery at multiple load levels (corresponding to apparent strain of 2,000-25,000 με). The results show that: the time-dependent behaviour of trabecular bone comprises of both recoverable and irrecoverable strains; the strain response is nonlinearly related to applied load levels; and the response is associated with bone volume fraction. It was found that bone with low porosity demonstrates elastic stiffening followed by elastic softening, while elastic softening is demonstrated by porous bone at relatively low loads. Linear, nonlinear viscoelastic and nonlinear viscoelastic-viscoplastic constitutive models were developed to predict trabecular bone's time-dependent behaviour. Nonlinear viscoelastic constitutive model was found to predict the recovery behaviour well, while nonlinear viscoelastic-viscoplastic model predicts the full creep-recovery behaviour reasonably well. Depending on the requirements all these models can be used to incorporate time-dependent behaviour in finite element models. To evaluate the contribution of the key constituents of trabecular bone and its microstructure, tests were conducted on demineralised and deproteinised samples. Reversed cyclic loading experiments (tension to compression) were conducted on demineralised trabecular bone samples. It was found that demineralised bone exhibits asymmetric mechanical response - elastic stiffening in tension and softening in compression. This tension to compression transition was found to be smooth. Tensile multiple-load-creep-unload-recovery experiments on demineralised trabecular samples show irrecoverable strain (or residual strain) even at the low stress levels. Demineralised trabecular bone samples demonstrate elastic stiffening with increasing load levels in tension, and their time-dependent behaviour is nonlinear with respect to applied loads . Nonlinear viscoelastic constitutive model was developed which can predict its recovery behaviour well. Experiments on deproteinised samples showed that their modulus and strength are reasonably well related to bone volume fraction. The study considers an application of time-dependent behaviour of trabecular bone. Time-dependent properties are assigned to trabecular bone in a bone-screw system, in which the screw is subjected to cyclic loading. It is found that separation between bone and the screw at the interface can increase with increasing number of cycles which can accentuate loosening. The relative larger deformation occurs when this system to be loaded at the higher loading frequency. The deformation at the bone-screw interface is related to trabecular bone's bone volume fraction; screws in a more porous bone are at a higher risk of loosening.

Top screw pullout is a significant problem in anterior scoliosis correction, with rates of 5-15% reported in the literature. The Mater Misericordiae Hospital in Brisbane currently has a series of 125 patients with scoliosis treated by thoracoscopic anterior fusion, instrumentation and correction between April 2000 and August 2007. In this series 11 top screws are known to have pulled out (a rate of 8.8%), with six occurring in the first week, and all within 6 weeks, suggesting that the problem is one of excessive static force rather than fatigue. This thesis describes a biomechanical investigation into the mechanics of vertebral body screw pullout in anterior scoliosis surgical constructs. Previous biomechanical studies of vertebral body screws have evaluated their resistance to either straight pullout or cephalo-caudad compression forces, however the aim of this study was to assess screw resistance to more realistic loading conditions, namely pullout of initially angled screws, and pullout where the motion path is an arc rather than a straight axial pullout, as would be expected in a single rod anterior construct. The first series of experiments involved straight and angled pullout tests using synthetic bone. In the angled tests, both locked and free-to-pivot configurations were tested. The second series of experiments tested the effect of cephalo-caudad pre-compression (the actual deformity correction step performed during surgery) on subsequent axial pullout strength. A third series of experiments performed arc pullouts using synthetic bone, and the final series of experiments tested the pullout resistance of a newly proposed screw position configuration against the standard screw positioning using ovine lumbar vertebrae. Synthetic bone testing revealed that for initially angled pullout, resistance is greatest as the screw angle approaches 0 (ie a direct axial pullout). Cephalo-caudad pre-compression reduced subsequent pullout strength for cases where a staple was not used under the screw head, but if a staple was used the pre-compression did not decrease pullout force significantly. Arc pullout resistance was greatest when the screw was angled at 10 cephalad, and the mean pullout strength for the proposed screw configuration using ovine lumbar vertebrae (1864N) was almost double that of the standard screw positioning (993N). The clinical implication of this study is that top screw pullout resistance can be maximised by placing the top screw as close as possible to the top endplate and the bottom screw as close as possible to the bottom endplate, although this will have detrimental effects on the pullout of the second screw should the top screw pull out. Screw angulation is a less important factor but any angulation should be in a cephalad direction and around 10º in magnitude. The experimental results also suggest that the use of a staple may play a role in preventing cephalo-caudad pre-compression forces from reducing screw resistance to subsequent pullout forces.