OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to provide a clinical and X-ray based evaluation of the results and osteointegration ability of lyophilized human and bovine bone grafts. METHODS: This is a non-concurrent cohort trial of 63 patients (66 hips) submitted to revision total hip arthroplasty (RTHA) using impacted freeze-dried human and bovine cancellous bone grafts. The study was carried out in the Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre from May 1997 to September 2002. The patients were divided in two groups: Group 1 (n=35), composed by those receiving human grafts, and Group 2 (n=31), receiving bovine grafts. The mean follow-up time was 33 months. The grafts were purified and lyophilized using a protocol developed by the authors. The clinical analysis was based on Merle, d'Aubigné and Postel's scores; while the radiographic analysis was based on an established score for radiographic bone incorporation. RESULTS: No clinical or radiographic differences were found between the groups, and both groups showed an overall osteointegration rate of 85% both in the acetabular and in the femoral component. CONCLUSIONS: Impacted lyophilized human and bovine bone grafts produced by following to the proposed protocol did not cause damage to the patients. Results obtained with both bovine and human grafts were similar.
Arthroplasty, Replacement, hip; Bone transplantation; Freeze drying
