title: Axial load-bearing capacity of an osteochondral autograft stabilized with a resorbable osteoconductive bone cement compared with a press-fit graft in a bovine model.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Osteochondral autografts in mosaicplasty are inserted in a press-fit fashion, and hence, patients are kept nonweightbearing for up to 2 months after surgery to allow bone healing and prevent complications. Very little has been published regarding alternative fixation techniques of those grafts.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Osteochondral autografts stabilized with a resorbable osteoconductive bone cement would have a greater load-bearing capacity than standard press-fit grafts.
  
  
  METHODS
  Controlled laboratory study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Biomechanical testing was conducted on 8 pairs of cadaveric bovine distal femurs. For the first 4 pairs, 6 single osteochondral autografts were inserted in a press-fit fashion on one femur. On the contralateral femur, 6 grafts were stabilized with a calcium triglyceride osteoconductive bone cement. For the 4 remaining pairs of femurs, 4 groups of 3 adjacent press-fit grafts were inserted on one femur, whereas on the contralateral femur, grafts were cemented. After a maturation period of 48 hours, axial loading was applied on all single grafts and on the middle graft of each 3-in-a-row series.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For the single-graft configuration, median loads required to sink the press-fit and cemented grafts by 2 and 3 mm were 281.87 N versus 345.56 N (P = .015) and 336.29 N versus 454.08 N (P = .018), respectively. For the 3-in-a-row configuration, median loads required to sink the press-fit and cemented grafts by 2 and 3 mm were 260.31 N versus 353.47 N (P = .035) and 384.83 N versus 455.68 N (P = .029), respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Fixation of osteochondral grafts using bone cement appears to improve immediate stability over the original mosaicplasty technique for both single- and multiple-graft configurations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Achieving greater primary stability of osteochondral grafts could potentially accelerate postoperative recovery, allowing early weightbearing and physical therapy.
authors.affiliation: Hopital du Sacre-Coeur de Montreal, Montreal, Canada.
authors.forename: Marc-Olivier
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Kiss
authors.forename: Annie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Levasseur
authors.forename: Yvan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Petit
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lavigne
mesh_terms: D020341:Absorbable Implants; D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D001843:Bone Cements; D016025:Bone Transplantation / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D002356:Cartilage / Q000502:physiology / Q000637:transplantation*; D002417:Cattle; D005269:Femur / Q000502:physiology / Q000601:surgery / Q000637:transplantation*; D016474:Weight-Bearing
chemical_list: D001843:Bone Cements