Abstract
Literature reports the incidence of failed isolated foot and ankle fusions as up to 23%. A contributing factor is the natural bone resorption, which occurs resulting in loss of compression and gapping at the fusion site when standard static compression plates and screws are used. However, an innovative dynamic compression screw may provide lasting compression despite resorption. This benchtop study shows that the FxDEVICES spring-loaded dynamic POGO screw maintains more compression and more consistent compression rate during simulated resorption, as compared with a standard compression screw. The novel screw maintained much greater compression strength within the first millimeter of simulated resorption (13.57 vs 4.38 lb) and maintained greater compression strength at the test completion (1.14 vs 0 lb). The novel screw revealed a more consistent resorption rate over the duration of the simulation. Clinically, this may result in more stability and improved fusion rates.
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