title: Biomechanical studies on transverse olecranon and patellar fractures: a systematic review with the development of a new scoring method.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Several methods of transverse patellar and olecranon fixation have been described. This article compares biomechanical studies of various fixation methods using a newly developed scoring method.
  
  
  METHODS
  The databases PubMed, Web of Science, Science Direct, Google Scholar and Google were searched for relevant studies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fixation hardware failure remains a problem. Various materials and fixation techniques have been tested to provide an improved fixation of transverse olecranon and patellar fractures.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The difference in biomechanical testing setup between the studies makes it hard to compare different fixation techniques.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The newly developed grading method was proved to be unbiased and reliable; however, extra specifications need to be added at some criteria when adopting the scoring method.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Non-metallic constructs may provide an improvement to the currently used metallic tension band wiring technique; however, clinical research is required.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Willeke A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Traa
authors.forename: Pim J A
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Oomen
authors.forename: Anniek
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: den Hamer
authors.forename: Maarten H G
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Heusinkveld
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Maffulli
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D005593:Fracture Fixation, Internal / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D050723:Fractures, Bone / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D015588:Observer Variation; D056740:Olecranon Process / Q000293:injuries / Q000601:surgery; D009984:Orthopedic Fixation Devices / Q000009:adverse effects; D010329:Patella / Q000293:injuries / Q000601:surgery; D011475:Prosthesis Failure; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: internal fixation; olecranon fracture; patellar fracture; tension band wiring