Comparison of Autogenic Costal Cartilage with Chitosan Scaffold in Canine Humeral Defect Healing

Objective- Current trends emphasize the acceleration of fracture healing on the ground that in doing so, the limitation of mobility and complications associated with recovery period are reduced. The present study aims to compare autogenic costal cartilage with Chitosan scaffold in canine humeral defect healing.
Design- Experimental study
Animal-15 adult male dogs
Procedures- Dogs were divided into three groups of five. Humerus window shaped defect was created in their right hands. In the first group (controls), the defect was left untreated. In the second and third groups, Chitosan and autogenic costal cartilage were placed into the defects, respectively. Radiographs of the defects were prepared at weeks 2, 4, 6 and 8 and finally the dogs were euthanized after 70 days. Histological sections were also obtained from the defect sites.
Result-The results indicated that the costal cartilage alone treated group was inferior to both Chitosan treated and control groups, so cartilage does not seem to serve as a suitable alternative for grafting in canine bone defects.
Conclusion and Clinical Relevance- Taking into account the results and other recent reports, it can be concluded that chitosan scaffolds with greater capabilities can be used in canine bone defect healing, however, for ideal bone tissue regeneration, chitosan as a base has to be combined with other materials including those mentioned above. The present study results showed that cartilage cannot serve as a proper alternative for grafting.