The Z-effect phenomenon is a potential complication of two lag screw intramedullary nail designs used for fixation of intertrochanteric hip fractures, in which the inferior lag screw migrates laterally and the superior lag screw migrates medially during physiologic loading. The current investigation was undertaken in an attempt to reproduce the Z-effect phenomenon in a laboratory setting. Sixte...

Co-rotating twin screw extruders are extensively used in the polymer compounding industry mainly due to their good mixing capacity. Given its modular construction, this type of machines can easily be adapted to work with different polymeric systems, e.g., polymer blends, nanocomposites or highly filled polymers. Nevertheless, the performance of these machines is strongly dependent on the screw ...

BACKGROUND Longer-term results of bioabsorbable screws for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) have been reported, but results are specific to the exact screw material and design. Titanium and poly-L-lactic acid with hydroxyapatite (PLLA-HA) screw outcomes have been compared only to 2 years. PURPOSE/HYPOTHESIS The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical and radiologic o...

This study measured the screw joint preload of the implant-abutment interface for 7 common hex-top abutment systems. Increasingly, prosthetic designs are utilizing a direct prosthetic connection to the implant, placing the implant-abutment screw joint under direct functional loads and moments. Sufficiently high screw joint preloads are required to maintain screw joint integrity and confer clini...

Objective: Odontoid screw fixation is an accepted surgical approach for Type 2 odontoid fractures with an intact transverse ligament. Typically, intraoperative bi-planar flouroscopy is used for placement of an odontoid screw. However, the quality of the images obtained with bi-planar fluoroscopy in the operating room is variable (due to patient body habitus) and screws may be misplaced. We repo...

Various fixation techniques have been described for ruptured distal biceps tendons. The authors hypothesized that no significant differences would be found between the mean failure strength, maximum strength, and stiffness of the interference screw and hybrid technique. Fourteen fresh-frozen human cadaveric elbows were prepared. Specimens were randomized to either interference screw or hybrid c...

BACKGROUND Pedicle screw insertions are commonly used for posterior fixation to treat various spine disorders. However, the misplacement of pedicle screws can lead to disastrous complications. Inaccurate pedicle screw placement is relatively common even when placement is performed under fluoroscopic control. In order to improve the accuracy of the screw placement, we applied a technique using g...

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to compare the interfragmentary compression force across a simulated scaphoid fracture by two commonly used compression screw systems; the Acutrak 2 Standard and the 3.0 mm Synthes headless compression screw. METHODS Sixteen (8 pairs; 6 female, 2 male) cadaver scaphoids were randomly assigned to receive either the Acutrak 2 or Synthes screw with the contr...

BACKGROUND Pedicle screws are used increasingly in spine surgery. Concerns of complications associated with screw breach necessitates accurate pedicle screw placement. Postoperative CT imaging helps to detect screw malposition and assess its severity. However, accuracy is dependent on the reading of the CT scans. Inter- and intra-observer variability could affect the reliability of CT scans to ...

This article reviews the historical context, indications, techniques, and complications of four posterior fixation techniques to stabilize the subaxial cervical spine. Specifically, posterior wiring, laminar screw fixation, lateral mass fixation, and pedicle screw fixation are among the common methods of operative fixation of the subaxial cervical spine. While wiring and laminar screw fixation ...