Frozen and Freeze-Dried Bone Grafts

Pelker, Richard R.; Friedlaender, Gary E.; MARKHAM, THOMAS C.

doi:10.1097/00003086-198304000-00007

Cited by 81 publications

(104 citation statements)

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“…Our finding that freezing does not alter the mechanical properties of bone is in agreement with the findings of other authors (Sedlin 1965, Pelker et al 1983, Panjabi et al 1985, Goh et al 1989, Hamer et al 1996. Investigations on the effects of embalming on the mechanical properties of bone found no or little effect after short to intermediate storage periods.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Effect of long-term preservation on the mechanical properties of cortical bone in goats

et al. 2008

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Background and purpose Bones used in mechanical studies are frequently harvested from human cadavers that have been embalmed in a buffered formaldehyde solution. It has been reported that formaldehyde fixation or freezing hardly affects the mechanical properties of bone after a storage period of several weeks. However, human cadaver bones are usually stored for longer periods of time before use. We therefore investigated the effects of long-term embalming or freezing on the mechanical properties of cortical bone.Methods After 5 different storage periods (ranging from 0 to 12 months), goat femora and humeri were used to evaluate the effect of embalming and freezing on torsion, and on bending stiffness and strength. The effect on hardness and bone mineral density (BMD) was also evaluated.Results Even after 1 year, no statistically significant differences could be found in stiffness, strength, and energy absorption when we compared embalmed or frozen bones to a fresh reference group. In addition, although we found no significant change in BMD, there appears to be a tendency to increasing hardness.Interpretation We found that there was no effect on the mechanical properties of bone after storage periods of 1 year. We conclude that embalmed or frozen bones can safely be used for mechanical testing, at least for storage periods of up to one year.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Effect of long-term preservation on the mechanical properties of cortical bone in goats

et al. 2008

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“…These results are in line with those of other authors regarding soft tissue [6,8,9] and hard tissue [10,13,14] as a result of freezing and thawing cycles. Two previous studies [12,17] found that processing and storage caused freeze-dried allograft bone to be weaker, but we did not compare our samples with the same control group. However, the results for energy to failure and stiffness seem to indicate some subfailure differences might exist between freeze-dried and nonfreeze-dried bone segments when comparing the graft rather than the material, ie, fibula segment versus cortical bone.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…Allograft bone serves as a scaffold with osteoconductive properties and is penetrated by vessels from the host bone for incorporation. One study found freezing bone grafts does not influence the structure for osteoconduction or change its ability to incorporate with the same biomechanical competence [12]. In vivo studies can now be performed to determine whether the osteoconductive and incorporative abilities remain with multiple freeze-thaw cycles.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, it is difficult to ascertain the effect of freeze-thaw cycles on bone using data derived from soft tissue, and studies on allograft cortical bone are limited and differ in their findings. Two studies showed torsion and bending properties of freeze-dried allograft bone were weaker after processing and storage [12,17]. In contrast, other studies found as many as five freeze-thaw cycles do not affect the biomechanical properties of cancellous bone [10,14] and long-term freezing reduces immunogenicity of grafts but does not decrease the biomechanical properties [13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Repeated Freeze-thaw Cycles Do Not Alter the Biomechanical Properties of Fibular Allograft Bone

Shaw¹,

Hunter²,

Gayton

et al. 2012

Clinical Orthopaedics &Amp; Related Research

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Background Allograft tissues can undergo several freezethaw cycles between donor tissue recovery and final use by surgeons. However, there are currently no standards indicating the number of reasonable freeze-thaw cycles for allograft bone and it is unclear how much a graft may be degraded with multiple cycles.Questions/purposes We therefore asked whether (1) the mechanical properties of fibular allograft bone would remain unchanged with increasing numbers of freeze-thaw cycles and (2) histologic alterations from increased numbers of freeze-thaw cycles would correspond to any mechanical changes. Methods Fibular allograft segments were subjected to two, four, and eight freeze-thaw cycles and compared biomechanically and histologically with a control group (one freeze-thaw cycle). Two freeze-dried treatments, one after being subjected to one freeze-thaw cycle and the other after being subjected to three freeze-thaw cycles, also were compared with the control group. Results For all segments, the average ultimate stress was 174 MPa, average modulus was 289 MPa, average energy was 2.00 J, and the average stiffness was 1320 N/mm. The material properties of the freeze-thaw treatment groups were similar to those of the control group: ultimate stress and modulus were a maximum of 16% and 70% different, respectively. Both freeze-dried treatments showed increased stiffness (maximum 53% ± 71%) and energy to failure (maximum 117% ± 137%) but did not exhibit morphologic differences. There were no alterations in the histologic appearance of the bone sections in any group. Conclusions Fibular allograft segments can be refrozen safely up to eight times without affecting the biomechanical or morphologic properties. Freeze-dried treatments require further study to determine whether the detected differences are caused by the processing. Clinical Relevance Cryopreserved cortical allografts are thawed by surgeons in preparation for procedures and then occasionally discarded when not used. Refreezing allograft tissues can result in a cost savings because of a reduction in wasted graft material.

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“…The advantages of an allograft lie both in its availability, and in the prevention of a second operation coupled with the associated complication rate. Another advantage, is the long shelf life of the graft [29]. In order to avoid the transmission of infectious agents, allografts should be subjected to procedures for the inactivation of microorganisms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Allogenic versus autologous cancellous bone in lumbar segmental spondylodesis: a randomized prospective study

et al. 2009

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Frozen and Freeze-Dried Bone Grafts

Cited by 81 publications

References 0 publications

Effect of long-term preservation on the mechanical properties of cortical bone in goats

Effect of long-term preservation on the mechanical properties of cortical bone in goats

Repeated Freeze-thaw Cycles Do Not Alter the Biomechanical Properties of Fibular Allograft Bone

Allogenic versus autologous cancellous bone in lumbar segmental spondylodesis: a randomized prospective study

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