The reinforcement of cancellous bone screws with calcium phosphate cement

The ability of calcium phosphate cement (CPC) to reinforce cancellous screws placed in previously stripped holes was studied in vitro. The distal end of canine femurs were harvested. A total of 15 screws were placed in six femurs. The pullout strength (failure force), failure displacement, stiffness, and energy absorbed were determined for the screws in the intact cancellous bone. Next, these stripped screw holes were packed with CPC. The pullout test was repeated, and the results were compared using a paired, Student's t test. We found that the CPC was able to reinforce the previously stripped holes and significantly increase the pullout strength (1,159 +/- 278 N versus 678 +/- 297 N) and the stiffness (1,990 +/- 569 N/mm versus 1,519 +/- 609 N/mm) of the constructs, as well as the energy absorbed by the constructs until failure (467 +/- 180 N.mm versus 278 +/- 140 N.mm). There was no difference in the failure displacement (0.94 +/- 0.23 versus 0.85 +/- 0.51 mm). This study documents the ability of CPC to acutely reinforce cancellous bone screws in a region with no or poor-quality cancellous bone.