RESUMO
BACKGROUND: As a bone graft, coralline hydroxyapatite (CHA) has uniform and interacted pore structure, which is suitable for vascular regeneration, bone regeneration and bone deposition. It displays good biocompatibility and no immunogenicity. OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical results of CHA in the treatment of benign osteolytic bone defects. DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING: A retrospective analysis was performed in the Department of Orthopaedics, Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical College from May 1996 to May 2007. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 32 cases of benign osteolytic bone defects were enrolled from Department of Orthopaedics, Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical College. Pathological diagnosis showed that the cause of bone defect included bone cyst for 8 cases, fibrous hyperplasia of bone for 9 cases, aneurysmal bone cyst for 4 cases, osteoenchondroma for 1 case; fracture complication for 5 cases consisting of femoral complete fracture for 2 cases and humeral complete fracture for 1 case, and humeral incomplete fracture for 2 cases. CHA was prepared by the Biomaterials Laboratory of Hainan Medical College. METHODS: According to routine approach of the operation, 32 cases of benign osteolytic bone defects were implant with CHA granules, chips or blocks after deleting tumor tissue and thinning cortical bone. Then the periosteum was sutured. Three cases with complete fracture received internal fixation, while other cases were untreated. None was fixed with plaster for external fixation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The X-ray films were observed to evaluate the bone healing at different time. RESULTS: All cases were followed up for average 6-24 months. No general abnormal reactions were found. The incisions were healed in two weeks. The lesion range of bone defect was from 3 cm?2 cm?2 cm to 12 cm?4 cm?4 cm before operation; At 1-3 months after operation, bone graft began to fuse with bone tissue around defects and fused completely at 3-6 months, which indicated the bone defect was almost repaired; At 6-24 months, bone graft was moulded and rebuilt, gradually substituted by newly formed born. CONCLUSION: The CHA is an idea bone graft substitute material for its good results in the treatment of benign osteolytic bone defects, shorter operating time and fewer complications.