[The mechanical properties of callus in fractures treated by nailing or plating: an experimental study (author's...

Twelve sheep were used in an experimental study on bone healing. The first metatarsal was fractured and fixed either by plating without compression or by intramedullary nailing. Three months later, the animals were sacrificed, the fractured bone removed and the mechanical properties of the callus were assessed by resistance to rupture, tangential strain measurement, the energy required for rupture, module of elasticity and the moment of inertia. It was concluded that callus was superior quantitatively as well as qualitatively after nailing. The mechanical properties of the callus wwere related to its degree of mineralisation.