Institution: | a Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan b Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Osaka Kouseinenkin Hospital, Osaka, Japan c Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan d Department of Laboratory and Molecular Medicine, Kagoshima University School of Medicine, Kagoshima, Japan e Department of Oral Pathology, Kagoshima University School of Dentistry, Kagoshima, Japan |
Abstract: | To elucidate the influence of osteoporosis on the fracture healing, we produced a rat osteoporosis model by ovariectomy and by maintaining a low calcium diet; and monitored the healing process radiographically, histologically, and biomechanically for 12 weeks. Radiologic, histologic and biomechanical findings of the fracture areas 6 weeks after making the fractures were almost identical in both the osteoporosis group and the control group. However, 12 weeks after making the fractures, newly generated bones in the osteoporosis group showed histological osteoporotic changes and their bone mineral density on the fracture site decreased. These findings show that estrogen-deficient and low calcium conditions greatly affect the bone in the later period of the healing process, but do not affect remarkably the early healing period. This is clinically important when we consider fracture treatments for patients with osteoporosis due to menopause. |