[Bone substitutes, growth factors and distraction osteogenesis].

Up to the present time, bone transplants are commonly used to reconstruct bone defects. Recently, several bone substitutes have been suggested to overcome the disadvantages of the procedure of bone harvesting. However, research reveals that an autogenous bone graft is still the gold standard. To replicate the structure and function of natural bone, growth factors or even living, bone-forming cells can be added to enhance the formation of new bone. In that case, one speaks of cell-based tissue-substition. As an alternative distraction osteogenesis, a mechanical-based way of tissue engineering is suggested. In this procedure, tissue-generation takes place without the addition of external material. A combination of both tissue-substitution techniques, consisting of the addition of bone-replacement materials or growth factors during distraction osteogenesis, has also been evaluated in research on animals, although not with unequivocal results.