The effect of hyaluronic acid-supplemented bone graft in bone healing: experimental study in rabbits.

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is one of the essential components of extracellular matrix, which plays a predominant role in tissue morphogenesis, cell migration, differentiation, and adhesion. Bone allografts are frequently used to repair and reconstruct bone defects. In this study, two cavities of 3 mm diameter and depth have been created in the right tibia of 30 mature rabbits in accordance with the principles of general surgery. One of the cavities in the tibia is filled with HA and bone graft and the other is filled with only spongiosal bone graft, for the purpose of control. On the 20th, 30th, and 40th days, rabbits have been sacrificed in equal numbers and defective regions have been extracted. The Kruskal-Wallis test was applied to the data obtained in the result of histopathologic survey of specimens. In conclusion, the cavities that have been filled with HA and bone graft have shown higher scores than the control group during every period of the study.