Comparative Analysis for Internal Fixations of Pauwels II by Biomechanical Finite Element Method

Abstract

Purpose: A series models of surgical internal fixation for femoral neck fracture of Pauwels II will be constructed by an innovative approach of finite element so as to determine the most stable fixation by comparison of their biomechanical performance. Method: Seventeen specimens of proximal femurs scanned by computed tomography in Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) format were input onto Mimics rebuilding 3D models; their stereolithography (STL) format dataset were imported into Geomagic Studio (3D Systems, Rock Hill, South Carolina) for simulative osteotomy and non-uniform rational basis spline kartograph; the generated IGS dataset were interacted by UG to fit simulative 3D-solid models; 3 sorts of internal fixators were expressed in 3D model by ProE (PTC, Boston, Connecticut) program virtually. Processed by HyperMesh (Altair, Troy, Michigan), all compartments (fracture model + internal immobilization) were assembled onto 3 systems actually as: Dynamic hip screw (DHS) / Lag screw (LS) / DHS+LS. Eventually, a numerical model of finite elemental analysis was exported to ANSYS for solution. Result: Three models of internal fixations for femoral neck fracture of Pauwels II were established and validated effectively, the stress and displacement of each internal pin were analyzed, the advantages of each surgical therapy for femoral neck fracture of Pauwels II were compared and demonstrated synthetically as: “The contact stress of 3-LS-system was checked to be the least; the interfragmentary displacement of DHS+1-LS assemblages was assessed to be the least.” Conclusion: 3-LS-system is recommended to be a clinical optimization for Pauwels II femoral neck facture, by this therapeutic fixation mechanically, breakage of fixators, or secondary fracture rarely occurs.