BIOMECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF ETHYLENE-OXIDE STERILIZED AND CRYOPRESERVED CORTICAL BONE ALLOGRAFTS

To evaluate changes during preservation, 76 femoral segments of cortical bone of dogs were tested biomechanically in order to determine their strength in compression, in bending and in torsion. These bones were wrapped in plastic-paper and they were sterilized with ethylene oxide 12%, at 30-degrees-C and 1.4 bars and preserved thereafter at -20-degrees-C. According to the applied loading test, three treatment groups were devised; each treatment group was subdivided into five groups: one control (fresh specimen) and four test-groups differing from each other by the preservation time; i.e. 3, 6, 9 or 12 months. Statistical analysis has demonstrated that there is not a significant difference between the test results for each test-group and its control. The conclusion of this study was that bones, treated as described above, can be stored up to one year without risks to significantly reduce their strength in compression, in bending and in torsion.