[Experimental study on secondary living bone graft--method of creating new donor by vascular bundle implantation to...

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the possibility of creating a new donor for a vascularized bone graft by a vascular bundle implantation to an isolated bone. Preliminary experiments on rats were performed preliminarily in order to investigate the revascularization of bone by a vascular bundle implantation and/or by implanting in muscular tissues (experiment-1). When a vascular bundle was implanted to the intramedullary cavity of an isolated bone and then the bone was implanted in muscular tissues, the isolated bone was more readily revascularized and revitalized than under other conditions. In experiment-2, the revascularized bone was transferred to the abdominal subcutaneous space on the vascular pedicle that was an implanted vascular bundle. Histologic and fluorochrome bone labeling studies showed that the revascularized bone was kept revitalized after the transfer. These results demonstrate that muscle and vascular bundle co-operated effectively in the revascularization of bone. Vascular bundle can also act as a pedicle for transferring the revascularized bone.