Avaliação experimental dos efeitos da fixação interna (Ti, 1,5mm), no crescimento craniofacial pós-natal de coelhos por meio de análise morfométrica indireta

Abstract

The purpose of the present investigation is to verify whether the potential for postnatal craniofacial bone growth in rabbits is impaired by the use of titanium microplates and microscrews in areas of rapid bone growth. To this end, 20 animals in their seventh week of life were divided into two groups: in the experimental group, a microplate with four holes was fixed on the right-hand side transversely to the coronal cranial suture; in the control group, only two screws were placed, one on either side of the right coronal suture at a distance corresponding to the two outer holes on the microplate. The animals were killed and manually decapitated in the 17th postoperative week. An evaluation of bone growth was performed through indirect morphometric measurements by the tridimensional analysis of the craniofacial volumes using computed tomography. A statistically significant difference was found when the partial direct volumes of the two groups were compared. It is thus possible to state that the use of internal rigid fixation in regions of rapid growth in growing rabbits produces dimensional changes.