TWO ORIGINAL RAT TIBIAL BONE DEFECT MODELS FOR THE PURPOSE OF BONE FORMATION AND HEALING PROCESS INVESTIGATIONS AFTER ANY GRAFT OR BONE SUBSTITUTE MATERIAL IMPLANTED
Large monocortical tibial bone defect and critical-sized segmental tibial bone defect creation techniques in rat model are represented. A monocortical defect was created in hind limbs of thirty-six male Wistar rats weighed from 350 to 450 g., and in 20 of them defects were created bilaterally in both hind limbs. Segmental defect was created in left hind limb of 47 rats, tibial bone ends were secured with a titanium plate and screws. In total, the defect was left empty in 24 cases, the defect was filled with bone graft in 32 cases, and the defect was filled with bone graft substitutes in 47 cases. The animals were killed at the time from one to fourteen and more weeks after surgery. The complication rate was 4.6 %. The results of this study suggest, that both represented monocortical and segmental rat tibial bone defect models are valid for the purpose of further bone defect healing investigations in consideration of simplicity, safety, and reliability.