title: Use of coral grafts in anterior interbody fusion of the rabbit spine.
abstract: The search for suitable bone graft substitutes has been made necessary by the problems encountered when using autogenous sources. Coral grafts have been used for the past two decades in various fields of surgery with reported good results. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of coral graft (Biocoral in anterior interbody fusion of rabbit spine. Fourteen rabbits underwent surgical anterior interbody fusion with autogenous, coral and Kiel grafts. At three months there was evidence of new bone formation at the graft-bone interface but no signs of osteointegration of the coral graft. The coral graft was also inert and did not evoke in any inflammatory reactions. Radiological examinations did not reveal any signs of fusion at three months. Kiel grafts only evoked a fibrous reaction. Autogenous rib grafts used has solid interbody fusion at two months as evidenced from both radiological and histological studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Alexandra Hospital, Singapore.
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Tho
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Krishnamoorthy
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016723:Bone Remodeling / Q000502:physiology; D018786:Bone Substitutes / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016025:Bone Transplantation / Q000379:methods* / Q000473:pathology; D002146:Bony Callus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D002417:Cattle; D003063:Cnidaria; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D011817:Rabbits; D011859:Radiography; D013123:Spinal Fusion / Q000379:methods*; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous / Q000379:methods / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D018786:Bone Substitutes