Surgical needle design: torsion resistance.

Abstract

The interface between a surgical needle and forceps affects needle-forceps stability. Stability has become more important with the introduction of blunt-point surgical needles. The stability at the needle-forceps interface can be assessed by quantitating resistance to both rotation and twisting. Two commonly used surgical needles are the MO and CT needles, which are particularly useful for soft tissue closure for which significant strength of closure is required. Their comparison is thus of importance to surgeons. The design of the MO needle (greater flat section width than the CT needle) should allow for a greater resistance to rotation at the needle-forceps junction. This theoretically makes the MO needle a better choice when blunt-point needles (which require a greater force to penetrate tissue) are used. The objective of this study is to document and quantitate the differences, if any, between the CT and MO needles with regard to rotation and twisting at the needle-forceps junction. To compare the efficacy of the CT and MO needles with regard to needle-forceps stability, the resistance of the needles to rotation and twisting was assessed using a Hios HP-10 digital torque meter. The resistance to twisting of the CT and MO needles was not significantly different. However, the MO needle is 25% more resistant to rotation than the CT needle. This differed by 10% from the expected difference. The resistance to twisting is not significantly affected by needle geometry, whereas the resistance to rotation is significantly affected. The difference between expected and observed differences in rotation is explained by study design.