Stress Shielding: Definition, Uses, and Clinical Overview
Stress Shielding is a biomechanical concept describing reduced mechanical loading of bone when an implant or device carries most of the load. It is not a disease or procedure; it is a load-transfer phenomenon relevant to musculoskeletal biology. It is most commonly discussed in arthroplasty, fracture fixation, and spinal instrumentation. Clinically, it matters because bone adapts to load, and reduced load can contribute to bone loss around implants.