Effects of cryosurgery on the healing pattern of rabbit mandibular bone. A triple fluorochrome labelling study.

The reparative process of rabbit mandibular bone injured by cryosurgery was studied by a triple fluorochromic method. The regeneration started late, when compared with fracture healing, and reached its maximum some 4-8 weeks after cryosurgery. A normal distribution of fluorochromes was registered after l2 weeks. The regeneration occurred mainly through growth from the marrow cavity region where the cryogenic impact may have stimulated osteogenesis from surviving endosteum and bone marrow. The destroyed periosteum at the site of the probe-tip attachment did not regenerate, although new bone formation of periosteal origin was noticed at the border of the injured cortex. The general distribution of fluorochromes seemed to follow closely the autoradiographic image obtained using 99TcmMDP in a similar experiment, suggesting comparable ways of accumulation in bone tissue.