Affiliations: [a] Department of Orthopedics, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan | [b] Department of Food Science and Technology, Hung Kuang University, Taichung, Taiwan | [c] Department of Medical Research, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan | [d] Department of Biomedical Engineering, Hung Kuang University, Taichung, Taiwan
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Kuo-Chih Su, Department of Medical Research, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, 1650 Taiwan Boulevard Sect. 4, Taichung City 40705, Taiwan. Tel.: +886 4 23592525 5153; E-mail: kcsu@vghtc.gov.tw.
Note: [1] Cheng-Chi Wang, Cheng-Hung Lee and Ning-Chien Chin contributed equally to this work.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Dynamic hip screw (DHS) is a common implant used to treat stable-type intertrochanteric hip fractures. There are many factors that can affect the success rate of the surgery, including the length of side plates. It is therefore important to investigate the biomechanical effect of different DHS side plates on bones. OBJECTIVE: In order to reduce the likelihood of an implant failure, the aim of this study was to use finite element analysis (FEA) to investigate and understand the effect of side plates with different lengths in DHS. METHODS: In this FEA study, a 3D model with cortical bone, cancellous bone, side plate, lag screw, and cortical screws to simulate the implantation of DHS with different lengths of side plate (2-hole, 4-hole, and 6-hole) for intertrochanteric hip fractures was constructed. The loading condition was used to simulate the force (400 N) on the femoral head and the stress distribution on the lag screw, side plate, cortical screws, and femur was measured. RESULTS: The highest stress points occured around the region of contact between the screw and the cortical bones. The stress on the femur at the most distal cortical screw was the greatest. The shorter the length of the side plate, the greater the stress on the cortical screws, resulting in an increased stress on the femur surrounding the cortical screws. CONCLUSIONS: The use of DHS with 2-hole side plate may increase the risk of side plate pull-out. The results of this study provide a biomechanical analysis for selection of DHS implant lengths that can be useful for orthopaedic surgeons.
Keywords: Biomechanics, finite element analysis, dynamic hip screw, intertrochanteric hip fracture
