Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Injectable Platelet-Rich Fibrın (i-PRF) Addition to Different Particle Sizes of Bovine Bone Grafts in Rabbit Calvaria Defects.

Background: Bone grafts are indispensable in augmentation procedures, and their properties influence the new bone formation. It has proved that the injectable platelet-rich fibrin has many positive effects on bone healing.

Aim: It was aimed to compare the effectiveness of the injectable platelet-rich fibrin (i-PRF) addition to bovine bone graft with different particle sizes on bone formation and vascularization in this study.

Materials And Methods: In 18 New Zealand rabbits, critical sized defects were created in the calvarium. Bovine bone grafts of two different particle sizes, small particles (SP) (0.25-1.0 mm) and large particles (LP) (1.0-2.0 mm) were applied with injectable platelet-rich fibrin (i-PRF) and without i-PRF. Animals were killed at 4 and 10 weeks for examining early and late bone healing histomorphometrically and immunohistochemically.

Results: Group SP + i-PRF had the significantly greater amount of new bone formation in both healing periods. The immunoreactivity scores of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and osteocalcin (OCN) were found to be significantly higher in Group SP + i-PRF than the other groups. There has been detected significant relationship between i-PRF addition and OCN staining scores.

Conclusion: In this study, which investigated the effectiveness of i-PRF in different particle sizes, it was concluded that i-PRF addition to small-particle bone graft increased new bone formation. There was no significant difference between two particle sizes of bone graft without i-PRF addition.