Electromagnetic stimulation of canine bone grafts.

We evaluated the use of pulsed electromagnetic-field stimulation to affect the rate of healing or incorporation of segmental autogenous cortical bone grafts in the dog in vivo. This non-invasive method of electrical stimulation has been implicated in increasing bone osteogenesis or augmentation of the repair process in the canine fibular osteotomy. We utilized two-month and six-month stimulation protocols. At six months, all of the animals were evaluated biomechanically using rapid-loading torsional testing. Histological evaluation using tetracycline labeling was used to evaluate cumulative new-bone formation and porosity, while graft-host time to union was evaluated roentgenographically every two weeks. Recent reports have implied that particular pulse configurations might be effective in improving graft revascularization and incorporation. The results of our investigation indicated that there was no significant effect on the biomechanical strength, histological presentation, or time to union with either two months or six months of pulsed electromagnetic-field stimulation using the particular waveform described.