Purpose: To histologically evaluate, by comparative means, the use of resorbable screws based on poli( l -co- d , l lactide) 70:30, used for fixation of autogenous bone grafts in rabbit tibiae.

Materials and methods: As a control, titanium (Ti–6Al–4V Grade V) screws were used. For this purpose, fifteen white New Zealand male rabbits, with age of 6 months and weight between 3.8 and 4.5 kg were used. In each animal, 2 full-thickness bone grafts were removed from the cranial vault and one of them was stabilized with resorbable screw while the other was stabilized with the metallic screw. Animals were divided into 3 groups, according to the sacrifice period: 3, 8 and 16 weeks postoperatively. After histological processing, cuts were corated with hematoxilin and eosin and underwent descriptive histological analysis under light microscopy.

Results: As a result it was found that the fixation system based on polymer showed a histological behavior similar to the metallic system. For both groups the bone grafts were incorporated, with the presence of bone neoformation between the donor and the recipient site. None of the groups showed undesirable inflammatory process or foreign body reaction.

Conclusions: Based on histological findings and respecting this experimental model, it is possible to conclude that the internal fixation system based on the poli( l -co- d , l lactide) 70:30 polymer is effective for fixation of autogenous bone grafts, offering results that are comparable the titanium fixation systems.

Conflict of interest: None declared.