OBJECTIVE: To determine the influence of vertebral posterior elements decortication in bone graft integration, considering a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the (bone, cartilaginous, and fibrous) tissues in the interface between the receptor bed and the bone graft. METHODS: Twenty-four Wistar rats were divided into two groups according to the decortication of the bone graft receptor bed. Autologous bone graft from the first and second lumbar vertebrae were used. The new tissue formation in the interface between the receptor bed and its bone graft was evaluated after three weeks by histomorphometric analyses. RESULTS: In the animals group with the decorticated posterior bed the mean percentage of new bone formation was 40%±6.1, and 7.7%± 3.5 in the not decorticated group. A(p=0.0001). The mean percentage of cartilaginous tissue formation in the decorticated group was 7.2%±3.5, and in the not decorticated 10.9%±5.6 (p=0.1123). The fibrous tissue formation in the decorticated group presented a mean of 8.6%±3.9 and, in the not decorticated group, of 24%±10.1, with which is a statistically significant difference (p=0.0002). CONCLUSION: Decortication accelerated the histologic process of bone graft integration. More production of new bone tissue and predominance of intramembranous type of ossification occurred in the decorticated group.
Bone transplantation; Osteogenesis; Spine
