Bone Remodeling Around Solid and Porous Interbody Cages in the Lumbar Spine

Spinal fusion is an effective surgical treatment for intervertebral disk degeneration. However, the consequences of implantation with interbody cages on load transfer and bone remodeling in the vertebral bodies have scarcely been investigated. Using detailed three-dimensional models of an intact and implanted lumbar spine and the strain energy density based bone remodeling algorithm, this study aimed to investigate the evolutionary changes in distribution of bone density (ρ) around porous and solid interbody cages. Follower load technique and submodeling approach were employed to simulate applied loading conditions on the lumbar spine models. The study determined the relationship between mechanical properties and parametrical characteristics of porous body-centered-cubic (BCC) models, which corroborated well with Gibson-Ashby and exponential regression models. Variations in porosity affected the peri-prosthetic stress distributions and bone remodeling around the cages. In comparison to the solid cage, stresses and strains in the cancellous bone decreased with an increase in cage porosity; whereas the range of motion increased. For the solid cage, increase in bone density of 20-28% was predicted in the L4 inferior and L5 superior regions; whereas the model with 78% porosity exhibited a small 3-5% change in bone density. An overall increase of 9-14% bone density was predicted in the L4 and L5 vertebrae after remodeling for solid interbody cages, which may influence disk degeneration in the adjacent segment. In comparison to the solid cage, an interbody cage with 65-78% porosity could be a viable and promising alternative, provided sufficient mechanical strength is offered.