Methods: 24 sheep (Merino wethers, mean age 5.6years, mean weight 39.1kg) underwent the trauma model 2 with a severe soft tissue damage and a multifragmentary, distal femur fracture as well as initial stabilisation with an external fixator. After five days of soft tissue recovery, the animals were definitively operated with an internal fixator (LCP) randomised either by a minimally invasive or open approach. The sheep were sacrificed after 4 and 8 weeks (two groups), mechanical testing performed and statistically analysed with ANOVA test. Results: After 4 weeks, torsional rigidity is significantly higher in the MIPO group (30.1r10.6(SD)%) of fractured to intact bones, p<
0.05) compared to ORIF group (9.8r12.4(SD)%), while ultimate torque also shows increased values for MIPO technique (p=0.11). After 8 weeks, the differences in mechanical properties levelled out, but still higher values for the MIPO group (p=0.36/p=0.26). Conclusion: In the early stage of fracture healing, minimally invasive plate osteosynthesis shows advanced healing pattern compared to open fixation technique. This advantage seems to level out over time.
plain x-ray plain xray and flexion/extension x-rays and plain x-ray and flexion/extension x-rays and CT scan. These results were correlated with a fusion rate based on the micro CT. The specificity and sensitivity of these radiological measures in diagnosing pseudarthrosis and inter-rater reliability using Fleiss’ Kappa scores for each method were calculated.
The cardiovascular effects of pulmonary cement embolism were investigated using an animal model.
Pulmonary hypertension was more severe in the CaP cement group. This may have been due to the disintegration of the CaP cement resulting in blockage of more pulmonary vessels compared to the PMMA cements.
The aim of this randomised, controlled