Article
rhBMP-2 in posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF)
rhBMP-2 bei dorsaler Spondylodese (PLIF)
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Published: | May 4, 2005 |
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Outline
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Objective
To evaluate whether recombinant bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) can be substituted for bone autograft during PLIF-technique in spinal surgery.
Methods
We studied the fusion process after implantation of rhBMP-2 in 17 patients with degenerative lumbar spine diseases in combination with dorsal fixation with pedicle screws and poly-ether-ether-ketone (peek) interbody cages. We used 12 mg rhBMP-2 carried by collagen-sponge, 6 mg in every cage. Patient follow-up consisted of pre-operative radiographic and clinical evaluation. Similar post-operative evaluations were performed at 3 and 6 months.
Results
Clinical assessment demonstrated clear improvement in all patients despite the fact that evidence of vertebral endplate osteoclastic activity was apparent in the 3-month radioographs. The 6-month radiographs however, confirmed evidence of fusion.
Conclusions
While former studies have shown exclusively positive results in both fusion rates and process, to date our study has not demonstrated any improvement in ossification using Induct Os in combination with peek-cages using a PLIF-technique. Further studies will be needed to show the potential benefit in comparison to the use of bone-filled cages. Nevertheless, fusion was reached in all cases with a six-month-control, and there was no negative influence on clinical outcome.