Bending properties of wire‐reinforced bone cement for applications in spinal fixation

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Abstract
PMMA beam specimens were tested in four‐point bending to determine if the bending strength of acrylic bone cement, as used in posterior spinal fusion, could be improved by metal‐wire reinforcement. The result showed that the load‐carrying capacities of 1‐ and 0.5‐mm diam stainless‐steel‐wire‐reinforced PMMA specimens in bending were significantly higher than similar unreinforced normal PMMA samples. On an average, steel reinforcement comprising approximately 1% of the cross‐sectional area of the PMMA specimens caused a 15% increase in bending strength. Even after the cement fractured, the reinforcing wires still sustained an appreciable amount of bending moment, thus preventing catastrophic failure of cement alone.