Abstract
Our knowledge of fracture healing is mainly based on experimental studies of diaphyseal fracture healing models, even though many fractures clinically occur in metaphyseal areas. Experimental studies on metaphyseal models were performed on sheep, dogs, rabbits and rats mainly in the femoral condyle but also in the proximal and distal tibia. Published studies on metaphyseal models were limited to radiological and histological analysis without a characterisation of the biomechanical condition in the healing zone. Recently a first sheep model with characterized biomechanical conditions could demonstrate a correlation between interfragmentary strain and bone healing similar to diaphyseal fractures. In contrast to diaphyseal bone healing however the metaphyseal fracture healing takes place by trabecular bone healing without external callus formation. The possibilities and limitations of the existing metaphyseal fracture healing models are discussed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 29-33 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Osteologie |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 2011 |