Dual plating for comparison of various combinations of plate lengths Şxation of humeral shaft fractures: A mechanical

Abstract

Objective: The role of plate conŞguration was found inconclusive on the biomechanical effects of theplate size and hole number for dual plate constructions in humeral shaft fractures. The purpose of thisstudy was to test the biomechanical stability of various dual plate constructions.Methods: Twenty-four left humeri (4th Generation Composite Humerus, Sawbones, MalmEURo, Sweden)with comminuted midshaft humeral fracture were used. Four groups of plate constructs were tested:laterallyŞxed 8-hole locking plate and screws were combined with anteriorly locking plates containing0, 4, 6, or 8 holes in groups I, II, III, and IV, respectively. The alterations in axial, bending, and torsionalangles were recorded.Results: There were noŞxation failures during axial, bending, or torsional stiffness testing within theelastic behavior limits. Axial stiffness was highest in Group IV. Torsional stiffness, posterior-to-anteriorbending stiffness, lateral-to-medial bending stiffness, and medial-to-lateral bending stiffness werelowest in Group I.Conclusion: The similar stiffness values for the 8-to-4 hole and 8-to-6 hole plate constructions indicatethat the 8-to-4 hole construction is an option in young adults, while the stiffest 8-to-8 hole combinationmay be an option for osteoporotic patients.© 2016 Turkish Association of Orthopaedics and Traumatology. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. This isan open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)