The impact of tensioning device mal-positioning on strand tension during Anterior Cruciate Ligament reconstruction

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In order to confer optimal strength and stiffness to the graft in Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) reconstruction, the maintenance of equal strand tension prior to fixation, is desired; positioning of the tensioning device can significantly affect strand tension This study aimed to determine the effect of tensioning device mal-positioning on individual strand tension in simulated cadaveric ACL reconstructions.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Twenty cadaveric specimens, comprising bovine tibia and tendon harvested from sheep, were used to simulate ACL reconstruction with a looped four-strand tendon graft. A proprietary tensioning device was used to tension the graft during tibial component fixation with graft tension recorded using load cells. The effects of the tensioning device at extreme angles, and in various locking states, was evaluated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Strand tension varied significantly when the tensioning device was held at extreme angles (p < 0.001) or in 'locked' configurations of the tensioning device (p < 0.046). Tendon position also produced significant effects (p < 0.016) on the resultant strand tension.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>An even distribution of tension among individual graft strands is obtained by maintaining the tensioning device in an unlocked state, aligned with the longitudinal axis of the tibial tunnel. If the maintenance of equal strand tension during tibial fixation of grafts is important, close attention must be paid to positioning of the tensioning device in order to optimize the resultant graft tension and, by implication, the strength and stiffness of the graft and ultimately, surgical outcome.</p

Biomechanical testing of implant free wedge shaped bone block fixation for bone patellar tendon bone anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction in a bovine model

Charles A Willis-Owen, Trevor C Hearn, Gregory C Keene, John J Cost

The Early Royal Society and Visual Culture

Recent studies have fruitfully examined the intersection between early modern science and visual culture by elucidating the functions of images in shaping and disseminating scientific knowledge. Given its rich archival sources, it is possible to extend this line of research in the case of the Royal Society to an examination of attitudes towards images as artefacts –manufactured objects worth commissioning, collecting and studying. Drawing on existing scholarship and material from the Royal Society Archives, I discuss Fellows’ interests in prints, drawings, varnishes, colorants, images made out of unusual materials, and methods of identifying the painter from a painting. Knowledge of production processes of images was important to members of the Royal Society, not only as connoisseurs and collectors, but also as those interested in a Baconian mastery of material processes, including a “history of trades”. Their antiquarian interests led to discussion of painters’ styles, and they gradually developed a visual memorial to an institution through portraits and other visual records.AH/M001938/1 (AHRC

Bilateral symmetry of the human metacarpal: implications for sample size calculations

Copyright © 2005 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved.D.S. Barker, C. Schultz, J. Krishnan and T.C. Hear

Biceps tenodesis: a biomechanical study of fixation methods

INC, 11830 WESTLINE INDUSTRIAL DR, ST LOUIS, USA, MO, 63146-331

Taking the Chaste Out of Chastisement: An Analysis of the Sexual Implications of the Corporal Punishment of Children

This article analyses research and theoretical material from sociological and psychological sources to explore the sexual implications of the corporal punishment of children. Through explicating and utilizing a social constructionist perspective, not only are the shortcomings of some of the current arguments against corporal punishment exposed, but such a perspective enables us to additionally understand how such practices can be construed in a sexualized manner, either by the child or the adult, and hence in some cases can be seen to constitute a form of sexual as well as physical abuse