Bone cement and wound healing. An experimental study in the rat.

The local effect of methyl methacrylate on wound healing was studied in rats using viscose cellulose sponges. A 7 mm diameter cylindrical section was removed from the sponges, filled with freshly prepared bone cement or left empty in controls. Two sponges were implanted subcutaneously into each rat. The concentrations of DNA, RNA-ribose, nitrogen, hydroxyproline, uronic acids and hexosamines of the sponges were determined 5, 10 and 21 days postoperatively. The concentrations of collagen and glycosaminoglycans were similar in experimental and control samples and only small differences were detected in the amounts of DNA. It was concluded that methyl methacrylate bone cement did not have any practical harmful effects on wound healing.