Fat embolism after static and dynamic load. An experimental investigation.

Rabbit femora were fractured with different strain rates (static and dynamic) with measurements of the bone marrow pressure during the actual moment of fracturing. The results show that the amount of fat emboli is dependent on the strain rate, and occurs at the moment of fracture, when elastic strain energy is released in the form of pulse waves. A further group of rabbit femora were subjected to standardized pulse-waves on the bone marrow. The number of fat emboli produced was proportional to the strength and number of these waves.