The purpose of this study was to compare the stiffness of a Type II external skeletal fixator (ESF) to a 3.5 mm locking compression plate (LCP) in axial compression, mediolateral, and craniocaudal bending in a fracture gap model. The hypothesis was that the Type II ESF would demonstrate comparable stiffness to the LCP. A bone simulant consisting of short fiber reinforced epoxy cylinders and a 40 mm fracture gap was used. The LCP construct consisted of a 12 hole 3.5 mm plate with three 3.5 mm bicortical locking screws per fragment. The Type II ESF construct consisted of 3 proximal full fixation pins (Centerface®) per fragment in the mediolateral plane, and 2 carbon fiber connecting rods. Five constructs of each were tested in non-destructive mediolateral and craniocaudal bending, and axial compression. Stiffness was determined from the slope of the elastic portion of force-displacement curves. A one-way ANOVA and a Tukey-Kramer multiple comparisons test were performed, with significance defined as p < 0.05. In mediolateral bending, the stiffness of the Type II ESF (mean ± standard deviation; 1584.2 N/mm ± 202.8 N/mm) was significantly greater than that of the LCP (110.0 N/mm ± 13.4 N/mm). In axial compression, the stiffness of the Type II ESF (679.1 N/mm ± 20.1 N/mm) was significantly greater than that of the LCP (221.2 N/mm ± 19.1 N/mm). There was no significant difference between the constructs in craniocaudal bending. This information can aid in decision-making for fracture fixation, although ideal stiffness for healing remains unknown. / Master of Science
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/86276 |
| Date | 16 June 2017 |
| Creators | Muro, Noelle Marie |
| Contributors | Veterinary Medicine, Gilley, Robert S., Kemper, Andrew R., Tempel, Marian Benitez, Barry, Sabrina L. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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