The Significance of a Tension Band for the Stressing of the Tubular Bone with Application to Compression Osteosynthesis

Abstract

The application of mechanical principles to orthopaedics encounters now as before huge difficulties because, in general, the basic laws of statics and the theory of elasticity are not familiar to doctors. This is illustrated by the fact that even the concepts of loading and stressing are not clear. This explains the conception going back to Rauber and Grunewald ¹ that the stressing that the tubular bone undergoes from body weight is strongly increased by the muscular forces. This is an error. It is right that the loading, the compressive force acting on the bone, is increased by the tension of the muscles. But the stressing of the tubular bone is considerably reduced by the muscular forces because these act as tension bands against the body weight.

For the 70th anniversary of Professor Dr. Bürkle de la Camp. Verh. der Deutschen Orthopädischen Gesellschaft. 52. Kongreß 1965