ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: We wanted to analyze the efficacy of hydroxyapatite as a bone graft extender and we wanted to compare the bone fusion rate between hydroxyapatite and allogenous bone as an adjunct to autogenous iliac bone graft in posterolateral spinal fusion. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Our study included 19 patients who were treated with decompression and posterolateral spinal fusion using hydroxyapatite on right side and frozen allogenous bone on left side as an adjunct to autogenous iliac bone graft, and all the procedures were performed between May 2003 and August 2004. Fusion was determined by the final radiographic findings with using Christiansen's classification. RESULTS: There were 3 male and 16 female patients. Their average age was 65.5 years (range: 48-81) and the average follow-up period was 21.5 months (range: 12-36). Fusion was performed in 3.4 segments (range: 2-6) on average per patient. Of all the 65 segments that underwent fusion, 63 segments (96.9%) in group using hydroxyapatite and 54 segments (83.1%) in group using allogenous bone were determined to be fused, and the difference was not statistically significant (p=0.074). CONCLUSION: Hydroxyapatite as adjunct to autogenous iliac bone for use in posterolateral spinal fusion showed a high fusion rate and it seemed to be useful as a bone graft extender for reducing the volume of the autogenous iliac bone.