The behavior of natural coral in a context of diaphyseal atrophic pseudarthrosis

Abstract

Natural coral and metal plate stabilization were used to obtain bone consolidation in a context of posttraumatic atrophic pseudarthrosis of a femoral shaft with nonunion. Bone substitute bioresorption was the result of dual, interdependent biological and mechanical processes. The process was exponential (natural logarithm). The coral beads were arranged in adjacent columns along the long axis of the femoral shaft parallel to the femoral shaft cortex. This demonstrates the role of natural stresses, which acted in the same manner as on a fracture-free bone. The resorption of the columns aligned in the same wall occurred in a definite order. The subperiosteal column was resorbed before that adjacent to the medullary canal. This shows the role played by the double vascularization of long bones in biomaterial resorption and callus formation.