INTRODUCTION: Conventional wisdom dictates that fusion rates increase with increasing construct stiffness. Traditional pedicle screw systems generally rely upon stiff components and rigid interconnections. For ease of insertion, some "semi-rigid" systems include polyaxial connections. A favorable bio logical outcome (fusion) is only weakly related to instrumentation type and it is increasingly ...

Anecdotally, surgeons sometimes observe large errors when using image guidance in endonasal surgery. We hypothesize that one contributing factor is the possibility that operating room personnel might accidentally bump the optically tracked rigid body attached to the patient after registration has been performed. In this paper we explore the registration error at the skull base that can be induc...

INTRODUCTION During the past five years, ridged sternal fixation has been utilized for sternal closure after cardiac surgery. It is known that this procedure provides better sternal stability; however, its contribution to patient recovery has not been investigated. METHODS Retrospective chart review was conducted for patients who underwent CABG and/or valve surgery in our institution between ...

Introduction: Simple fractures, potentially high-strain are classically treated through anatomical reconstruction and rigid fixation, using an open reduction approach. This study aimed to evaluate the bridge plating minimally invasive plate osteosynthesis (MIPO) of simple tibial fractures. Our hypothesis was that fixation these fractures MIPO would result in early bone healing with low complica...

The treatment of infected mandibular fractures has advanced rather dramatically over the past 50 years. Immobilization with maxillomandibular fixation and/or splints, removal of diseased teeth in the fracture line, external fixation, use of antibiotics, debridement, and rigid internal fixation has played a role in management. Perhaps the most important advance was the realization that infected ...