Radiation-induced impairment of osseous healing with vascularized bone transfer: experimental model using a pedicled tibia flap in rat

Aim of this study was to establish an appropriate animal model for investigating the healing of vascularized osseous transplants to irradiated recipient sites applying metabolic, vascular and immunologic experimental studies. In 20 Wistar rats (male, weight 300-500 g), a pedicled osseous tibia flap was raised and transferred to a subcutaneous pocket in the ipsilateral groin. The remaining tibia was stabilized with a monocortical titanium miniplate. To create a pre-irradiated transplant bed, the donor-area including the adjacent bone of the tibia was irradiated with a total dose of 50Gy (5 x 10 Gy) in 10 animals. The interval between irradiation and retransfer of the non-irradiated pedicled tibia flap was 4 weeks. Ten animals received no radiation. Evaluation of osseous healing and the success of the transferred flap were based on a clinical and quantitative histomorphometric assessment. Testing for significant differences was performed using the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U-test. The rate of complete osseous healing in the non-irradiated animals was 90%. In contrast there was no significant bone union observed in the group of the pedicled flaps grafted to the pre-irradiated (50Gy) recipient site (P = 0.001). Similarly bone formation in the transitional zone between bone graft and recipient bone was significantly lower in the preirradiated group (P < 0.001) (16.9 +/- 3%) in contrast to the non-irradiated transplant bed (47.9 +/- 6%).