Skeletal Regeneration

Skeletal regeneration is accomplished by a cascade of biologic processes that may include differentiation of pluripotential tissue, endochondral ossification, and bone remodeling. It has been shown that all these processes are influenced strongly by the local tissue mechanical loading history. This article reviews some of the mechanobiologic principles that are thought to guide the differentiation of mesenchymal tissue into bone, cartilage, or fibrous tissue during the initial phase of regeneration. Cyclic motion and the associated shear stresses cause cell proliferation and the production of a large callus in the early phases of fracture healing. For intermittently imposed loading in the regenerating tissue: (1) direct intramembranous bone formation is permitted in areas of low stress and strain; (2) low to moderate magnitudes of tensile strain and hydrostatic tensile stress may stimulate intramembranous ossification; (3) poor vascularity can promote chondrogenesis in an otherwise osteogenic environment; (4) hydrostatic compressive stress is a stimulus for