[Utility of bone substitutes: study of 101 distal radius fractures]

The aim of the present retrospective study was to evaluate the performance of bone graft substitutes currently in use. After exclusion of those with inadequate data for comparison, 70 out of the 101 operated fractures remained available for statistical analysis. Grafts were used in 38 cases: 23 were bone substitutes and 15 autogenous grafts. Distal radial inclination and lateral angles showed no significant difference. Analysis of ulnar variance showed the relative inability of intramedullary pinning to maintain radial length in the absence of graft. In contrast external fixators preserved radial length both with and without bone grafts, and with all types of graft material. TCH (hydroxyapatite and calcium phosphate) or autogenous bone grafts allowed intramedullary pinning to maintain radial length; whereas collagen matrix material was ineffective. We conclude that TCH and autogenous bone grafts have equivalent effectiveness despite potential bias in this study.