Biomechanical performance of microsurgical spatula needles for the repair of nail bed injuries.
The purpose of this study was to determine the mechanical performance of microsurgical spatula needles for repair of nail bed injuries. Standard biomechanical tests have been devised to evaluate the performance of microsurgical spatula needles. Two comparable groups of microsurgical spatula needles were selected from two different manufacturers for these biomechanical studies. The results of this testing demonstrated that needle point geometry and needle composition were important determinants of needle performance. When needles of comparable size were evaluated, the biomechanical performance of the CS160-8 spatula needle (Ethicon, Inc., Somerville, NJ) was superior to the C-5 spatula needles (Alcon, Inc., Fort Worth, TX). While the development of these biomechanical tests has allowed the evaluation of these microsurgical spatula needles, these same tests can be used to assess the performance of new microsurgical spatula needles.
Department of Plastic Surgery, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville 22908.
M M
MM
Wu
R F
RF
Morgan
J G
JG
Thacker
R F
RF
Edlich
D000497:Alloys; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D006801:Humans; D008866:Microsurgery / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D009262:Nails / Q000293:injuries* / Q000601:surgery; D009339:Needles / Q000592:standards*
D000497:Alloys