Journal of orthopaedic research : official publication of the Orthopaedic Research Society
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The potential for peri-implant bone yielding and subsequent loosening of Ilizarov ring-wire external fixation systems was investigated using non-linear finite element (FE) analyses. A strain-based plasticity model was employed to simulate bone yielding. FE models also incorporated contact behavior at the wire-bone interface, orthotropic elasticity, and periosteal-endosteal variation of bone properties. ⋯ Old-aged cases showed considerably greater bone yielding at the wire-bone interface than young cases (1.7-2.2 times greater volumes of yielded bone). The volume of yielded bone at all wire-bone interfaces decreased with an increase in wire pre-tension. The absence of continuous through-thickness yielding offers an explanation for the clinical observation that Ilizarov ring-wire fixation can provide stable fracture fixation even in bone with high porosity.