A novel method for lateral callus distraction and its importance for the mechano-biology of bone formation

We introduce a novel method of lateral callus distraction for bone formation, which avoids the conventional splitting and weakening of bones. At the medial aspect of the sheep tibia the periosteum was resected and small holes were drilled into the cortex to connect the bone surface with the marrow. A distraction device with a hydroxyapatite-coated titanium plate was fixed over the drilled area. After 10 days latency the plate was distracted perpendicular to the bone's long axis twice a day by 0.27 mm for 10 days. The newly formed tissue was then allowed 50 days of maturation. In a control group the plate was fixed 5.4mm distant from the bone surface. After 70 days all sheep were sacrificed and investigated histo-morphologically and with pQCT. Significantly more bone had developed between the lateral bone surface and the plate in the distraction group compared to the control group. There was exclusively intra-membranous bone formation with trabeculae oriented in the direction of the applied distraction. The main calcification occurred weeks after the last distraction. In conventional callus distraction the tissue strain caused by distraction is superimposed by the tissue deformation due to the deformation of the fixation device. In contrast, in the newly introduced lateral callus distraction method pure uniaxial strain occurs. From a mechano-biological point of view these results suggest that pure uniaxial strain induces exclusively intra-membranous bone formation. Furthermore, it shows that the anabolic effect of tissue strain is present even 50 days after the last stimulation by distraction.