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Mechanobiology of Bone Consolidation During Distraction Osteogenesis: Bone Lengthening Vs. Bone Transport

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Abstract

Bone lengthening and bone transport are regeneration processes that commonly rely on distraction osteogenesis, a widely accepted surgical procedure to deal with numerous bony pathologies. Despite the extensive study in the literature of the influence of biomechanical factors, a lack of knowledge about their mechanobiological differences prevents a clinical particularization. Bone lengthening treatments were performed on sheep metatarsus by reproducing the surgical and biomechanical protocol of previous bone transport experiments. Several in vivo monitoring techniques were employed to build an exhaustive comparison: gait analysis, radiographic and CT assessment, force measures through the fixation, or mechanical characterization of the new tissue. A significant initial loss of the bearing capacity, quantified by the ground reaction forces and the limb contact time with the ground, is suffered by the bone lengthening specimens. The potential effects of this anomaly on the musculoskeletal force distribution and the evolution of the bone callus elastic modulus over time are also analyzed. Imaging techniques also seem to reveal lower bone volume in the bone lengthening callus than in the bone transport one, but an equivalent mineralization rate. The simultaneous quantification of biological and mechanical parameters provides valuable information for the daily clinical routine and numerical tools development.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Junta de Andalucía and the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad from the Government of Spain for funding this research (US-1261691, DPI2017-82501-P, and PGC2018-097257-B-C31) and the FPU Grant of one of the authors (FPU17/05361).

Conflict of interest

The authors have no financial or personal relationships which could inappropriately influence the contents of this paper. Therefore, no conflict of interest is declared.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería, Universidad de Sevilla, Avenida Camino de los Descubrimientos s/n, 41092, Seville, Spain

    Pablo Blázquez-Carmona, Jaime Domínguez & Esther Reina-Romo

  2. Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería, Universidad de Huelva, 21007, Huelva, Spain

    Juan Mora-Macías

  3. Departamento Medicina y Cirugía Animal, Ctra. Nacional IV-A, Campus Universitario de Rabanales, Km 396, 14014, Córdoba, Spain

    Juan Morgaz & José Andrés Fernández-Sarmiento

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  1. Pablo Blázquez-Carmona
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Correspondence to Pablo Blázquez-Carmona.

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Blázquez-Carmona, P., Mora-Macías, J., Morgaz, J. et al. Mechanobiology of Bone Consolidation During Distraction Osteogenesis: Bone Lengthening Vs. Bone Transport. Ann Biomed Eng 49, 1209–1221 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-020-02665-z

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