What factors in an autograft lead to bone growth and strength that are absent in an allograft?
To determine the strength of femur grafts, Awad applied a common mode of loading that long bones endure: torsion. To test the grafts’ torsional strength, the researchers used an EnduraTEC TestBench Torsional System to twist each femur until it snapped. While it was clear that the allografts’ strength degraded over time in contrast with the autografts, this fact did not shed light on why allografts are weaker. Assessment of Graft Torsional Strength This graph is a plot of the torque vesrus the bone rotation about its axis. The peak of each line graph occurs at the breaking point of the bone. Note how the normal bone resisted the greatest amount of torsion, or torque, with little rotation, while the autograft was significantly weaker. The allograft preformed the worst during these tests, contorting dramatically with little torsional resistance. Previous work in the CMSR conjectured that perhaps vascularization, or the growth of blood vessels through tissue, could help the process of bone
