Callus stiffness evolution during the healing process—a mechanical approach

Abstract

Objective: Intramedullary nailing has been used to support long fractured bones, as femur, during the healing process. The load shared between bone/callus and intramedullary nailing is a function of the callus stiffness, that in turn varies during the healing process. Thus, the available mechanical load at callus region during the healing process can define the healing effectiveness. Therefore, the shared load between intramedullary nailing and bone/callus must be accessed. To reach this objective, an analytical model, based in mechanics of solids, is presented to describe the evolution of the load share between bone/callus and intramedullary nailing, at callus region, during the healing process.