Katsuhisa Yamada, Manabu Ito, Toshiyuki Akazawa, Masaru Murata, Toru Yamamoto, Norimasa Iwasaki


October 2015, Volume 24, Issue 11, pp 2530 - 2537 Original Article Read Full Article 10.1007/s00586-015-4047-2

First Online: 31 May 2015

Purpose

To evaluate the osteoconductivity and the bonding strength of the newly developed interbody cage covered with the porous titanium sheet (porous Ti cage) to vertebral bodies in a sheep model.

Methods

Twelve sheep underwent anterior lumbar interbody fusion at L2–3 and L4–5 using either the new porous Ti cages (Group-P) or conventional Ti cages with autogenous iliac bone (Group-C). The animals were euthanized at 2 or 4 months postoperatively and subjected to radiological, biomechanical, and histological examinations.

Results

Computed tomography analyses showed that the ratio of bone contact area in Group-P was significantly increased at 4 months compared with that at 2 months (p = 0.01). Although the ratio of bone contact area in Group-C was significantly higher than Group-P at 2 months (p 

Conclusions

There was bone ingrowth into the porous Ti sheet, and bonding capacity of the porous Ti cage to the host bone increased with time. However, the speed of union to the bone with a porous Ti cage was marginally lower than a conventional cage along with an autogenous bone graft. Although it needs further experiment with a larger sample size, the results of the current study suggested that this material could achieve interbody fusion without the need for bone grafts.


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