Figure 6.

Evaluation of the compression-stability of both tube types presurgically and at all time point postsurgically. Tubes that were presurgically sterilized by β irradiation showed a significant increase in their stiffness over implantation time; i.e., a higher force was necessary to compress these tubes by the same degree as EO-treated tubes (respective n-values are given in the graph; variations in n-counts occurred due to an increased brittleness of both tube types). Two-way ANOVA followed by Tukey's multiple comparison was used for statistical analysis of the results (^§p<0.05, ^§§p<0.01, ^§§§p<0.001 versus 0 weeks, i.e., presurgical measurement, within the same group). Results are displayed as median±range.