Cancellous Screw

Cancellous Screws

Cancellous screws are the type of orthopedic bone screws that orthopedic surgeons use for fixing fractures in metaphyseal bones. In other words, cancellous screws are for the surgical fixation of fractures in the cancellous bone.

Cancellous bones form the ends (epiphyses) of long bones. This type of bone is spongy, light, and porous bone having large spaces in between giving it a spongy appearance. Cancellous bone is also known as trabecular or spongy bone.

If we talk about the structural configuration of cancellous screws, then they are designed to have a coarse pitch. These screws are ideal for optimizing fixation in metaphysical bone environments. They are also the best for producing interfragmentary compression in joint areas, for example, tibia head fractures.

As per the research, cancellous screws are biomechanically advantageous over cortical screws, especially when surgeons apply them to the metaphyseal bone. Hence, they achieve better compression with excellent displacement resistance at the screw-plate interface. Cancellous screws have a large thread diameter to core diameter ratio which makes them suitable for providing compression and anchoring in soft cancellous bone.