Do laser/LED phototherapies influence the outcome of the repair of surgical bone defects grafted with biphasic synthetic microgranular HA + ß-tricalcium phosphate? A Raman spectroscopy study.

The treatment of bone loss is difficult. Many techniques are proposed to improve repair, including biomaterials and, recently, phototherapies. This work studied bone mineralization by Raman spectroscopy assessing intensities of Raman peaks of both inorganic (∼ 960, ∼ 1,070 cm(-1)) and organic (∼ 1,454 cm(-1)) contents in animal model. Six groups were studied: clot, laser, light-emitting diode (LED), biomaterial (HA + ß-tricalcium phosphate), laser + biomaterial, and LED + biomaterial. Defects at right tibia were performed with a drill. When indicated, defects were further irradiated at a 48-h interval during 2 weeks. At the 15th and 30th days, the tibias were withdrawn and analyzed. The ∼ 960-cm(-1) peak was significantly affected by phototherapy on both clot- and biomaterial-filled defects. The ∼ 1,070-cm(-1) peak was affected by both time and the use of the LED light on clot-filled defects. On biomaterial-filled defects, only the use of the laser light significantly influenced the outcome. No significant influence of either the time or the use of the light was detected on clot-filled defects as regards the ∼ 1,454-cm(-1) peak. Raman intensities of both mineral and matrix components indicated that the use of laser and LED phototherapies improved the repair of bone defects grafted or not with biphasic synthetic microgranular HA + ß-tricalcium phosphate.

The efficacy of the use of IR laser phototherapy associated to biphasic ceramic graft and guided bone regeneration on surgical fractures treated with miniplates: a histological and histomorphometric study on rabbits.

The aim of the present study was to assess, by light microscopy and histomorphometry, the repair of surgical fractures fixed with internal rigid fixation (IRF) treated or not with IR laser (λ780 nm, 50 mW, 4 × 4 J/cm(2) = 16 J/cm(2), ϕ = 0.5 cm(2), CW) associated or not to the use of hydroxyapatite and guided bone regeneration. Surgical tibial fractures were created under general anesthesia on 15 rabbits that were divided into 5 groups, maintained on individual cages, at day/night cycle, fed with solid laboratory pelted diet, and had water ad libidum. The fractures in groups II, III, IV, and V were fixed with miniplates. Animals in groups III and V were grafted with hydroxyapatite and GBR technique used. Animals in groups IV and V were irradiated at every other day during two weeks (4 × 4 J/cm(2), 16 J/cm(2) = 112 J/cm(2)). Observation time was that of 30 days. After animal death, specimens were taken, routinely processed to wax, cut and stained with HA and Sirius red, and used for histological assessment. The results of both analyses showed a better bone repair on all irradiated subjects especially when the biomaterial and GBR were used. In conclusion, the results of the present investigation are important clinically as they are suggestive that the association of hydroxyapatite, and laser light resulted in a positive and significant repair of complete tibial fractures treated with miniplates.