Addition of fibrin sealant to ceramic promotes bone repair: long-term study in rabbit femoral defect model.

Despite their impact on the healing of soft connective tissue, fibrin sealants have not been shown conclusively to have an important role in the healing of bone defects. We report the positive influence of fibrin sealants on repair of cancellous bone cavities filled with a porous, resorbable ceramic. We studied two fibrin sealants: Autocolle and Tissucol. Autocolle is enriched in platelet factors during its preparation. Tissucol is a commercially available fibrin glue prepared from pooled human plasma that has no enrichment in platelet factors. Cavities 10 mm in depth and 5 mm in diameter were drilled in lateral condyles of 45 New Zealand rabbits. These defects were filled with either coral granules or a mixture of fibrin sealant (Autocolle or Tissucol) and coral granules or left empty. At 1 month addition of a fibrin sealant (Autocolle or Tissucol) to the coral led to a significant increase in bone formation in comparison to coral alone. At 2 months significant fibrin sealant mediated enhancement of bone repair was observed with Autocolle only. At 6 months bone formation was similar to the adult bone amount in nonoperated animals, whatever the initial material. Control cavities, on the other hand, were invaded with fibrous tissue only at each time period.