Effects of freezing on the biomechanics of the intervertebral disc.

Storage of anatomic specimens is possible only if there is a reliable method for preservation of the tissues. The establishment of such a procedure is thus of twofold importance: clinical (transplantation of segments of the vertebral column) and experimental (research and teaching programs). Simple freezing at -18 degrees C is the simplest and least expensive method for storing spinal specimens compared to other modes of storage such as cryo-preservation and lyophilization. Does this mode of storage affect the biomechanics of frozen anatomic specimens, in particular those of the intervertebral disc? This experiment dealt with the comparative biomechanical analysis before and after three months of freezing of 19 segments of the sheep vertebral column (4 functional C4-C5 units, 3 C7-T1 units, 6 T13-L1 units and 6 L5-L67 units). The results showed that there was no significant difference (risk of error 5%) between frozen and fresh segments of vertebral column in terms of amplitude and rigidity, except for the C7-T12 segment where the conditions of validity of the statistical tests were not met. The results of this experiment allowed us to validate a biomechanical model to assay the effects of freezing.