Treatment of long tubular bone defect of rabbit using autologous cultured osteoblasts mixed with fibrin.

The osteogenic potential of autologous cultured osteoblasts mixed with fibrin when transplanted to bone defects was evaluated. Radial shaft defects over 15 mm were made in 30 New Zealand white rabbits. A total of 15 rabbits in the control group underwent an iliac bone graft and 15 rabbits in the experimental group underwent an autologous cultured osteoblast injection mixed with fibrin. Both groups were compared radiologically and 5 rabbits in each group were sacrificed for histological evaluation using H-E and Masson's trichrome stain at 3, 6, and 9 weeks. Osteogenesis in the control group progressed more rapidly than in the experimental group. However, at 9 weeks, bone formation in both groups were similar and showed no significant difference in terms of the amount of bone formation and the quality of bone union. Autologous cultured osteoblast transplantation mixed with fibrin in bone defects was found to produce bone efficiently.