Changes In Mechanical Strength of Compression HIP Screws in Relation to Design Variations - A Biomechanical Analysis

Compression Hip Screw (CHS) is one of the most widely-used prostheses for the treatment of intertrochanteric fractures because of its strong fixation capability. Fractures at the neck and screw holes are frequently noted as some of its clinical drawbacks, which warrant more in-depth biomechanical analysis on its design variables. The purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in the strength with respect to the changes in design such as the plate thickness and the number of screw holes. Both mechanical test and FEM analysis were used to systematically investigate the sensitivities of the above-mentioned design variables. For the first part of the mechanical test, CHS (n=20) were tested until failure. The CHS specimens were classified into four groups: Group Ⅰ was the control group with the neck thickness of 6-㎜ and 5 screw holes on the side plate, Group Ⅱ 6-㎜ thick and 8 holes, Group Ⅲ 7.5-㎜ thick and 5 holes, and Group Ⅳ 7.5-㎜ thick and 8 holes. Then, the fatigue test was done for each group by imparting 50% and 75% of the failure loads for one million cycles. For the FEM analysis, FE models were made for each group. Appropriate loading and boundary conditions were applied based on the failure test results. Stresses were assessed. Mechanical test results indicated that the failure strength increased dramatically by 80% with thicker plate. However, the strength remained unchanged or decreased slightly despite the increase in number of holes. These results indicated the higher sensitivity of plate thickness to the implant strength. No fatigue failures were observed which suggested the implant could withstand at least one million cycles of fatigue load regardless of the design changes. Our FEM results also supported the above results by showing a similar trend in stress as those of mechanical test. In summary, our biomechanical results were able to show that plate thickness could be a more important variable in design for reinforcing the strength of CHS than the number of screw holes.