Biomechanical Stuy Of ETHIBOND And Stainless Steel Wire Tension Banding For The Fixation Of Transverse Olecranon Fractures

Objective:To compare the biomechanical stability of No.5 ETHIBOND(polyester un-absorbable suture)and single strand No.7 stainless steel wire in the treatment of olecranon fracture.Methods:20 olecranon transverse fracture models were prepared using 3D printing technology,which were divided into Ethibond group and steel wire group,with 10 models in each group.The models were fixed with K-wire tension band fixation technique.The following parameters were measured:the pressures in the fracture gaps,the fracture displacement in fatigue test with 500 cycles,and the elastic modulus,the required load for fracture distraction(1mm and 2mm),the ultimate load and displacement for breakage of internal fixation in the static stretching test.Results:No internal fixation failure(internal fixation failure was defined as fracture displacement>2mm)was observed either in Ethibond group nor in steel wire group after the fatigue test.However,the displacement of the fracture fragments was significantly larger in Ethibond group than in the steel wire group for each 50 cycles with minimal 10N load during fatigue test;furthermore,the elastic modulus,the required load for fracture distraction(1mm and 2mm),the ultimate load and displacement for breakage of internal fixation in the static stretching test were all significantly larger in the steel wire group(P<0.05).Conclusion:No.5 ETHIBOND and single strand No.7 stainless steel wire both can provide sufficient fixation for the treatment of olecranon fracture,but single strand No.7 stainless steel wire has better biomechanical stability.