Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Chemical bonding can be formed between the material interface and human bone after implantation of bioactive glass as bone graft into human body. Bioactive glass can induce bone repair and regeneration, but its poor bending strength may lead to stress shielding and failure of bone repair.
OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of different bone graft materials on lumbar intertransverse fusion of rabbits, and to investigate their feasibilities to replace autologous bone in lumbar intertransverse fusion.
METHODS: Twenty-eight healthy male adult New Zealand white rabbits were randomly divided into four groups: chitosan/ calcium-silicate group, calcium-silicate group, chitosan group and autologous ilium group. Lumbar posterolateral fusion was performed in all rabbits to place the implant materials into both sides of L4/5 intertransverse.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: At 12 weeks after surgery, bone fusion was found in seven rabbits of the chitosan/calcium- silicate group, four rabbits of the calcium-silicate and chitosan group, and five rabbits of the autologous ilium group. Histological observation showed that the chitosan/calcium-silicate could obviously promote the degradation and osteogenesis. Biomechanical test showed that tensile strength of the chitosan/calcium-silicate group was superior to the other groups (P < 0.05). The results indicated that the three materials can replace autologous bone in lumbar intertransverse fusion, and chitosan/calcium-silicate can promote the process and improve the biomechanical strength of lumbar intertransverse fusion.