Internal Prosthetic Replacement of Skeletal Segments Lost in Combat Injuries.

The objective has been to design prosthetic devices and clinical techniques which would allow reconstruction of a long bone damaged or diseased such that amputation may not be the necessary alternative. The research is pursued using the female baboon as the model. Large resections are used as the defect. The prosthesis assembly is designed to replace the resected segment to allow a new union and regrowth of the residual fragments and the prosthesis into a single unit of calcified tissue which is capable of load bearing and function for the life of the patient. It has been demonstrated in the model that these objectives can be attained by proper design of prosthesis, combined with the use of bone grafting and proper compression. With proper clinical procedure the porous prosthesis becomes invested by growing calcified bone and union is achieved with the bone fragments. Author