[Evolution of the biomechanical principle of osteosynthesis].

Through the technological evolution of the medical devices used for the treatment of bone fractures, two main concepts are in opposition: the internal rigid and the external elastic fixations. For forty years, the limitation due to the mechanical resistance of the materials have determined the various methods of treatment of fractures and influenced the comprehension of the physiopathology of bone healing. Two main figures of the Belgian orthopaedics and traumatology, Robert Danis and Franz Burny, had a determinant impact in this evolution.