In Vitro Investigation of the Fixation Performance of a Bioabsorbable Magnesium ACL Interference Screw Compared to a Conventional Interference Screw

Abstract

An anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction is a common treatment for patients with ACL rupture that aims to regain pre-injury knee stability and kinematics. During the ACL reconstruction, one method to fix the graft is the use of an interference screw (IS). The IS should provide initial stability and secure the graft during the healing period. In recent years, magnesium has emerged as an alternative material to permanent metal and polymer ISs. In addition, differences in designs, such as the shape of the IS, can influence the fixation performance of the IS. Therefore, in this biomechanical experiment, two different screw designs with two ligament materials were compared in an insertion and a pull-out test at a rate of 1 mm/s. The screw designs were a conventional polymer screw and a magnesium screw. Porcine tendon and nylon rope were used as ligament materials. All tests were performed in polyurethane foam blocks with 15 PCF density (Synbone AG, Switzerland). As a result, both screw designs required an insertion torque of less than 3 Nm. There was a significant difference between the porcine and nylon rope in pull-out tests for each screw design. The magnesium screw had the highest pull-out force at 412.14 ± 50.00 N for porcine tendon and 707.38 ± 21.81 N for nylon rope. There were no significant differences in tunnel widening (narrow–wide ratio) between each ligament material. The magnesium screw showed the lowest narrow–wide tunnel ratio, implying a better ability to compress the graft to the tunnel. In conclusion, a more optimized magnesium IS design resulted in better graft fixation and an improved ACL reconstruction outcome.

Keywords

• ACL reconstruction
• interference screw
• bioabsorbable
• magnesium
• biomechanics