FRACTURE-HEALING IN A RAT OSTEOPENIA MODEL

Fracture healing is influenced by mechanical and biologic factors. The capacity for fracture repair has been reported to decrease with age, although the risk of fracture increases with age, Fracture healing in an animal model of postmenopausal osteoporosis or osteopenia would pro vide a useful technique to evaluate and develop new treatment protocol s, The authors examined the tensile and bending properties of healing femoral fractures in normal and ovariectomized rats, Mechanical data f rom tensile and bending tests indicate ovariectomy impairs fracture he aling,,which was confirmed through histologic study. Bending and tensi le data provide useful information concerning the mechanical propertie s of the healing fracture. Tensile tests were noted to be sensitive in dicators of the properties of the healing fracture.