title: Biomechanical advantage of lengthening of the femur with an external fixator over an intramedullary nail.
abstract: The present experimental study investigated biomechanical differences in methods of femoral lengthening using a monolateral external fixator only and using an external fixator over an intramedullary nail. Three materials, namely polyvinyl chloride rods, composite synthetic bone, and cadaver-bone, were tested using the MTS machine. We evaluated the differences of axial stiffness according to the presence of a nail or the numbers of half-pins (two or three half-pins) that were fixed at each side of osteotomy. The addition of a nail may increase the axial stiffness of the frame of monolateral external fixator for limb lengthening. Additionally, it is enough to distract the femur with fixing two half-pins at each side, when using the technique of lengthening over a nail.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, College of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Woo-Kie
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Min
authors.forename: Byung-Guk
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Min
authors.forename: Chang-Wug
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Hae-Ryong
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Jong-Keon
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Hyung-Soo
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Byung-Chul
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Poong-Taek
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D001852:Bone Lengthening / Q000379:methods*; D001858:Bone Nails; D002102:Cadaver; D016267:External Fixators; D005269:Femur / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D010027:Osteotomy; D011143:Polyvinyl Chloride; D019736:Prostheses and Implants
chemical_list: D011143:Polyvinyl Chloride