Biomechanical comparison of ankle arthrodesis techniques: Crossed screws vs. blade plate

Many different techniques for ankle arthrodesis have been described. Experi ence at our institution with crossed screws internal fixation has not met t he 90+% union rate reported in the literature. A compression blade plate is one technique for ankle arthrodesis which has not been evaluated biomechan ically. A biomechanical study comparing two groups of sawbone ankle fusion constructs fixed with crossed screws and compression blade plates was perfo rmed in order to evaluate the stiffness and rigidity of these two arthrodes is techniques. The crossed screws construct demonstrated superior stiffness during dorsifl exion (p < 0.001) and valgus (p < 0.001) loading. The two constructs were f ound to have equal strength in resisting plantarflexion, varus and torsiona l loads although there was a trend for greater resistance by the crossed sc rews construct. These findings lend biomechanical support to the use of cro ssed screws for tibiotalar arthrodesis.