Correlation of radiographic bone density data in segmental bone alloplasty in vivo and in patients

Background. Alloplastic replacement of bone defects after tumor removal is a commonly used and quite successful method of surgical treatment of patients with cancer. To evaluate the effectiveness of surgical intervention, it is important to study the state of the bone tissue. The radiological density research with the X-Rays software package will allow assessing the state of bone tissue in the case of using different methods of bone alloplasty. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the options of the X-ray density technique with the X-Rays software package in segmental bone alloplasty for post-resection defects of long bones in the experiment and in the clinic in order to identify the best methods for fixing segmental allografts. Material and methods. In this work, we combine 2 studies (experimental on animals, and clinical research) that show the results of using different methods of bone alloplasty and the correlation of experimental and clinical data based on radiological density. Results. The data obtained indicate that a stepwise osteotomy to connect the recipient’s bone with a segmental allograft contributes to the rapid acquisition of bone regenerate density. The statistical analysis revealed some peculiarities of bone tissue behavior in patients with consolidated and unconsolidated contact zone between the allograft and the recipient bone. The change in the data of bone optical density was analyzed when using different methods to fix the bone allograft with the recipient bone: by means of an intramedullary rod and a plate. It was proved that the density in case of using a plate was lower (98 ± 46 units) compared to the data of radiographs of patients who underwent fixation with an intramedullary blocking rod (121 ± 44 units). Conclusions. The results of the study clearly highlighted the fact that in allocomposite replacement of the long bone, a stepwise osteotomy to connect the recipient bone with a segmental allograft contributes to the rapid acquisition of bone regenerate density. In case of using an intramedullary blocking rod to fix a bone allograft, no signs of violation of the consolidation process were noted, and the whole bone tissue (recipient bone and allograft) gained more density over time.