Bone graft incorporation after cortical perforations of the host bed

A fundamental issue in onlay bone graft persistence is the unpredictable extent of incorporation and volumetric maintenance of the graft. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects on integration of onlays, with either their cancellous or cortical portion facing toward the host bed, positioned over cortical perforations at the recipient site. Tibial or femoral unicortical bone grafts were harvested from isogeneic donors and positioned subperiostally on each tibia of 22 adult Lewis rats. On the experimental side, the recipient outer cortical bone surface received multiple perforations, 0.25 mm in diameter. The contralateral side served as a control (no cortical perforations). The findings were assessed after 4 and 20 weeks using routine histologic and immunohistochemistry techniques. Cortical perforations induced a migration of the recipient bone marrow into the graft as well as a reduced size diminution. More cortical bone remodeling and marginal lamellar bone apposition were observed after orientating the cortical portion of the graft toward the recipient site. These observations may be useful clinically to improve long-term success after autogeneic bone grafting.