Metalworking defects in surgery screws as a possible cause of post-surgical infections

20th Argentinean Bioengineering Society Congress

物理学;生物科学

Spector, Mario^1 ; Peretti, Leandro E.^2 ; Romero, Gustavo^1

Universidad Tecnológica Nacional, Facultad Regional Paraná., E. Rios, Almafuerte, Paraná

1033, Argentina^1

Instituto de Desarrollo para la Industria Quimica, INTEC (Universidad Nacional Del Litoral/CONICET), Güemes 3450, Santa Fe, Argentina^2

关键词: Cortical screws;    Cruciate ligaments;    Ethylene oxides;    Fungal spores;    Interference screw;    Machining Process;    Outer surface;    Second phase;   

Others  :  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/705/1/012013/pdf
DOI  :  10.1088/1742-6596/705/1/012013

学科分类：生物科学（综合）

来源: IOP

【 摘 要 】

In the first phase of this work, surface defects (metalworking) in stainless steel implantable prostheses and their possible relation to infections that can be generated after surgery was studied. In a second phase, the results obtained in the aforementioned stage were applied to knee cruciate ligaments surgery screws, considering the fact that a substantial number of Mucormycetes infections have been reported after arthroscopic surgery in Argentina since the year 2005. Two types of screws, transverse and interference screws, were analyzed. The Allen heads presented defects such as burrs and metalworking bending as a result of the machining process. These defects allow the accumulation of machining oil, which could be contaminated with fungal spores. When this is the case, the gaseous sterilization by ethylene oxide may be jeopardized. Cortical screws were also analyzed and were found to present serious metalworking defects inside their heads. To reduce the risk of infection in surgery, the use of screws with metalworking defects on the outer surface, analyzed with stereomicroscope and considering the inside part of the Allen as an outer surface, should be avoided altogether.