The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Vol 60, Issue 8 1082-1090, Copyright © 1978 by Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc
Freeze-dried allogeneic segmental cortical-bone grafts in dogs
H Burchardt, H Jones, F Glowczewskie, C Rudner and WF Enneking
Forty-four adult male mongrel dogs were used to compare segmental cortical
freeze-dried allogeneic bone grafts with fresh autogenous, freeze-dried
autogenous, and fresh allogeneic segmental cortical grafts. Group I
consisted of bilateral fresh autografts as external controls; Group II, a
fresh autograft on one side for internal control and a freeze-dried
autogenous graft on the other side to evaluate the effect of freeze-drying
on repair; Group III, a fresh autograft on one side and a fresh allograft
on the other side to measure the differences between autogenous and
allogeneic grafts; and Group IV, a fresh autograft on one side and a
freeze-dried allogeneic graft on the other to see if freeze-drying altered
the repair of allogeneic grafts. The grafts were analyzed qualitatively
over a six-month period by the use of interval roentgenograms to determine
the times of graft-host union and the incidence of fatigue fractures. Six
months after operation, the repair processes in the four groups were
compared quantitatively with respect to biological repair and physical
strength using torsional stress-testing, tetracycline labeling, and
microradiography. The results indicate both qualitatively and
quantitatively that: (1) fresh bilateral segmental cortical autografts show
reproducible characteristics, so that the canine fibula furnishes a
satisfactory model (Group I); (2) freeze-drying does not inhibit the repair
process per se (Group II); (3) fresh allografts are rejected in varying
degrees of intensity (Group III); and (4) freeze-drying does not protect
cortical allogeneic grafts from such rejection (Group IV).