Prevention of fracture at the distal locking site of the gamma nail. A biomechanical study
Open Access
- 1 March 1995
- journal article
- Published by British Editorial Society of Bone & Joint Surgery in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. British volume
- Vol. 77-B (2) , 274-276
- https://doi.org/10.1302/0301-620x.77b2.7706346
Abstract
To investigate the origin of fractures at the distal locking site of the Gamma nail, we loaded ten paired human cadaver femora fixed with a Gamma nail in torsion until they fractured. When an awl was hammered in to start the hole for distal locking a fissure appeared in the lateral cortex of all the femora, and the mean torsional load to create a fracture was reduced by 57.8% compared with that in a control group in which the distal locking hole had been started with a centre drill. When an additional drill hole was made, the mean failure load in torsion decreased by 35.7%. We strongly recommend that an awl should not be used at the distal locking site of the Gamma nail; we recommend the use of a centre drill. Additional drill holes should be avoided because they act as stress raisers.Keywords
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