Forces affecting orbital floor reconstruction materials--a cadaver study.
BACKGROUND
The objectives of this study were: (i) to evaluate the applied force and the displacement of the orbital contents after orbital floor reconstruction using artificially aged reconstruction materials in fresh frozen human heads and (ii) to analyze the puncture strength of the materials.


METHODS
Six fresh frozen human heads were used, and orbital floor defects in the right and left orbit were created by 3.0 J direct impacts on the globe and infraorbital rim. The orbital floor defect sizes and displacements were evaluated after a Le-Fort-I osteotomy.


RESULTS
The orbital floor defect sizes were 208.3(SD, 33.4) mm(2) for the globe impacts and 221.8(SD, 53.1) mm(2) for the infraorbital impacts. The forces on the incorporated materials were approximately 0.003 N and 0.03 N for the PDS-foil and collagen membrane, respectively. The displacements of the materials were +0.9 mm and +0.7 mm for the PDS-foil and collagen membrane, respectively. The puncture strengths of the PDS-foil and collagen membrane decreased from approximately 70 N and 12 N at week 1 to approximately 5 N and 1.5 N at week 8 of artificial aging.


CONCLUSIONS
The force applied to the orbital content is minimal, and the puncture strengths of the artificially aged materials are more than sufficient for the measured forces.
Institute of Anatomy, Christian-Albrechts University Kiel, Kiel, Germany. f.birkenfeld@anat.uni-kiel.de
Falk
F
Birkenfeld
Martin
M
Steiner
Matthias
M
Kern
Jörg
J
Wiltfang
Björn
B
Möller
Ralph
R
Lucius
Stephan Thomas
ST
Becker
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002102:Cadaver; D003094:Collagen / Q000737:chemistry; D005131:Eye Injuries / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008422:Materials Testing / Q000295:instrumentation; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D008875:Middle Aged; D009915:Orbit / Q000293:injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D009929:Organ Size; D016687:Polydioxanone / Q000737:chemistry; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000295:instrumentation*; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013997:Time Factors
C106416:Bio-Gide; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D016687:Polydioxanone; D003094:Collagen