Clinical application of hydroxyapatite

Publisher Summary Bioceramics have been widely used as bone replacement materials in orthopedic surgery. In particular, calcium phosphate ceramics, such as Hydroxyapatite (HA), have been applied as bioactive ceramics with bone-bonding capacities. As clinical use, generally HA has been used as a spacer, filler, and physicochemical bonding between bone and implant. Since porous HA block used as spacer is brittle and dense HA is difficult to make adhere to the bone, the use of HA spacer has decreased. To curb the loosening of the prosthesis, osteoconduction has to be continued at the interface between bone and implant even after onset of osteoporosis and therefore, not-resorbable crystalline HA has to be used. For this reason, the Interface Bioactive Bone Cement (IBBC) technique, which involves interposing crystalline HA granules at the interface between bone and bone cement at cementing during surgery, has been used. As non-resorbable crystalline HA and other resorbable bioceramics are completely different materials, it is necessary to understand their properties and characteristics accurately and they have to be applied in clinical cases. This chapter provides a comparison of different characteristics of HA and other bioceramics and introduces clinical application of HA.