Determining the critical size of a rabbit rib segmental bone defect model

Fengzhen Liu; Kun Chen; Lei Hou; Keyi Li; Dawei Wang; Bin Zhang; Xiumei Wang

doi:10.1093/rb/rbw028

Determining the critical size of a rabbit rib segmental bone defect model

Regen Biomater. 2016 Oct;3(5):323-328. doi: 10.1093/rb/rbw028. Epub 2016 Sep 20.

Authors

Fengzhen Liu¹, Kun Chen², Lei Hou², Keyi Li², Dawei Wang², Bin Zhang², Xiumei Wang³

Affiliations

¹ Liaocheng People's Hospital, Medical College of Liaocheng University, Liaocheng 252000, P. R. China;; Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P. R. China.
² Liaocheng People's Hospital, Medical College of Liaocheng University, Liaocheng 252000, P. R. China.
³ Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P. R. China.

Abstract

In order to establish and standardize the rabbit rib segmental bone defect model, it is of vital importance to determine rabbit rib critical size defect (CSD). According to the general time needed for spontaneous long-bone regeneration, three-month observation period was set to determine the CSD. The rabbit rib segmental bone defects with different sizes from 1 to 5 cm with or without periosteum were performed in the eighth rib of 4-month-old male New Zealand rabbits and underwent X-ray examinations at the 4th, 8th and 12th weeks postoperatively. The gross and histological examinations at postoperative week 12 were evaluated, which showed that the critical sizes in the rabbit rib models with and without periosteum were 5 and 2 cm, respectively. This study provides prerequisite data for establishing rabbit rib CSD model and evaluating bone materials using this model.

Keywords: animal test; bone; critical size defect; periosteum; rib defect.