The role of decalcified freeze-dried bone allografts in the healing of postoperative osseous defects resulting from cyst enucleation: A pilot study

Abstract

Background: We performed this pilot study to evaluate the osteoinductive potential of decalcified freeze-dried bone allografts (DFDBA) in the healing of postsurgical osseous defects after cyst enucleation through radiographic bone density monitoring over a 6-month period. Materials and Methods: Patients aged between 18 and 70 years of either gender with noninfected odontogenic or nonodontogenic cystic jaw lesions measuring 1–5 cm in size were enrolled and randomly assigned to study group or control group. The study group patients were filled with DFDBA graft in bony defects resulting from the enucleation of the cysts, whereas no filling material was used in the control group. Sutures were removed on the 7th postoperative day and healing was assessed. Further follow-up visits were done at 1, 3, and 6 months. Bone densities were recorded with grayscale histogram using Adobe Photoshop (version CS 5.1) and compared across all follow-ups. Results: A total of 20 patients were enrolled in the study. Both the groups were balanced in terms of the baseline (preoperative) characteristics. There was a significant increase in bone density in the study group as compared to the control group at months 1, 3, and 6 after the surgery. There was an overall percentage increase in bone density (postoperative density as reference) at months 1, 3, and 6 in the study and control groups. However, the increase was significantly greater in the study group as compared to the control group at month 3 and month 6, whereas there was no difference between both the groups at month 1. Conclusion: Our findings suggest the osteoinductive potential of DFDBA in the healing of osseous defects resulting from the enucleation of cysts.