Prevention of growth arrest after physeal injury with fibrin interposition

Objective To evaluate the effects of fibrin graft interposition in proximal tibia transphyseal injury in murine model. Methods The growth plate injury model was generated in 56 skeletally immature rats. In 28 rats, a bilateral physeal injury was created with the defect of the left tib-ia filled with autogenously adipose tissue and the right tibia filled with fibrin. Micro-CT was performed postoperatively to evaluate morphological and micro-structural features. Histology of the bone bridge was then carried out to compare the bony bridge formation effects of different grafted growth plate in- juries. The length and angle of the grafted tibia were also compared. Results The BMD of the bone bridge in the epiphysis and metaphysis of the proximal tibias were significantly different between graf- ted tibias and non-grafted tibias at 4,16 and 24 weeks postoperatively (P 0.05). Histological findings showed the grafted area was replaced by fibrous connective tissue, and physeal defects of the control animals were filled with mature marrow with trabecular bone formation. The deformity angle and medial length of the tibia were significantly different between grafted tibias and non-grafted tibias at 4,16 and 24 weeks postoperatively (P 0.05). Conclusions Both fat and fibrin graft interposition were useful in reducing growth dis-turbance in growth plate injury. Key words: Epiphyses,injuries; Fibrin glue