Electronic Letters to:

Research: C. A. Mueller, C. Eingartner, E. Schreitmueller, S. Rupp, J. Goldhahn, F. Schuler, K. Weise, U. Pfister, and N. P. Suedkamp Primary stability of various forms of osteosynthesis in the treatment of fractures of the proximal tibia J Bone Joint Surg Br 2005; 87-B: 426-432 [Abstract] [Full text] [PDF]

eLetters: Submit a response to this article

Electronic letters published:

Primary stability of various forms of osteosynthesis in the treatment of fractures of the proximal t

Sunil Apsingi, K. R. Boddu Siva Rama   (8 April 2005)

Primary stability of various forms of osteosynthesis in the treatment of fractures of the proximal t 8 April 2005
Sunil Apsingi, Clinical Research Fellow Freeman Hospital, K. R. Boddu Siva Rama Send letter to journal: Re: Primary stability of various forms of osteosynthesis in the treatment of fractures of the proximal t apsingi{at}gmail.com Sunil Apsingi, et al.	Sir, We read this article with great interest. However, we would like to raise several issues regarding this study. Firstly, the experimental fracture created by the authors in the tibia is representative of AO classification 42C3.2 rather than the reported 42C3.3. 1 This is because the instability was created in a segment of length less than 4cm. Secondly, we feel that the stiffness of both the external fixation devices (as seen in Figures 1 and 2 in this paper) used in this experiment could have been further increased by placing pins closer to the fracture site on both sides following the AO principles of fracture fixation2. We felt that the effect of bending and rotational torques on these different fixation systems is as important as the axial force in analysis of the load bearing capability of these fixation systems. We are also interested in the axial displacement of the fracture fragments at 300 N axial force with these different fixation systems, which would give a better understanding of the fracture gap strain during the partial weight bearing conditions. S. APSINGI, K. R. BODDU SIVA RAMA, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK. 1. The comprehensive classification of fractures of long bones:42- Tibia/FibulaDiaphysis. http://aona.com/longbone/42.asp (accessed on 05/04/2005). 2. Fernandez AD. External Fixation. In: Rüedi TP, Murphy WM. AO principles of fracture management. Stuttgart, New York: Thieme, 2000: 235.