Screw angulation affects bone-screw stresses and bone graft load sharing in anterior cervical corpectomy fusion with a rigid screw-plate construct: a finite element model study
Received 24 March 2009; received in revised form 14 July 2009; accepted 29 August 2009. published online 12 October 2009.
Abstract
Background context
Anterior corpectomy and reconstruction with bone graft and a rigid screw-plate construct is an established procedure for treatment of cervical neural compression. Despite its reliability in relieving symptoms, there is a high rate of construct failure, especially in multilevel cases.
Purpose
There has been no study evaluating the biomechanical effects of screw angulation on construct stability; this study investigates the C4–C7 construct stability and load-sharing properties among varying screw angulations in a rigid plate-screw construct.
Study design
A finite element model of a two-level cervical corpectomy with static anterior cervical plate.
Methods
A three-dimensional finite element (FE) model of an intact C3–T1 segment was developed and validated. From this intact model, a fusion model (two-level [C5, C6] anterior corpectomy) was developed and validated. After corpectomy, allograft interbody fusion with a rigid anterior screw-plate construct was created from C4 to C7. Five additional FE models were developed from the fusion model corresponding to five different combinations of screw angulations within the vertebral bodies (C4, C7): (0°, 0°), (5°, 5°), (10°, 10°), (15°, 15°), and (15°, 0°). The fifth fusion model was termed as a hybrid fusion model.
Results
The stability of a two-level corpectomy reconstruction is not dependent on the position of the screws. Despite the locked screw-plate interface, some degree of load sharing is transmitted to the graft. The load seen by the graft and the shear stress at the bone-screw junction is dependent on the angle of the screws with respect to the end plate. Higher stresses are seen at more divergent angles, particularly at the lower level of the construct.
Conclusion
This study suggests that screw divergence from the end plates not only increases load transmission to the graft but also predisposes the screws to higher shear forces after corpectomy reconstruction. In particular, the inferior screw demonstrated larger stress than the upper-level screws. In the proposed hybrid fusion model, lower stresses on the bone graft, end plates, and bone-screw interface were recorded, inferring lower construct failure (end-plate fractures and screw pullout) potential at the inferior construct end.
aDivision of Research, Logan University, Chesterfield, MO 63017, USA
bDepartment of Orthopedic Surgery, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60612, USA
cDepartment of Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USA
dDepartment of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, Penn State College of Medicine, Allentown, PA 18103, USA
Corresponding author. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Rush University Medical Center, 1653 West Congress Parkway, Suite 764A Armour Academic Facility, Chicago, IL 60612, USA. Tel.: (312) 942-5367; fax: (312) 942-2101.
ABSTRACT