Positively charged dextran resin inhibits trabecular bone repair in the rabbit tibial physis

Because exposure to positively charged dextran resin (PCDR) inhibits the growth of cultured rat and human bone cells, we tested the hypothesis that PCDR might inhibit bone repair in vivo. Central physeal defects were created by drilling 3.0-mm holes from the proximal tibial plateau into the metaphysis. The defects in left tibiae were packed with neutral resin (control); those in right tibiae were filled with PCDR. At the end of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 10th postoperative weeks, the outcomes were quantitated by documenting the percent trabecular bone volume within the defect. The PCDR-filled defects showed a significant decrease in trabecular bone formation as early as the 2nd week. By the 10th postoperative week, formation of trabeculae had been reduced by nearly 40%. The inhibition conferred by PCDR suggests that the resin could be used as a suppressive interpositional material.