[Bone substitutes - basic principles and clinical applications]

Treatment of bone defects and non-unions frequently requires the transplantation of autologous bone. As an alternative, different kinds of bone substitutes have been used more often during the past years. These bone substitutes include synthetic materials, just as well as processed materials from human donors (allogen) or animals (xenogen). The relatively low hurdles in the approval process, compared to pharmaceutical drugs, have led to an almost unmanageable amount of different kinds of bone substitutes. Due to sparse clinical studies, evidence-based decisions for a specific product or a specific indication are hardly possible. Therefore, a deeper knowledge about basic properties of different bone substitutes is needed for a rational clinical decision. The present review aims to clarify the sometimes confusing nomenclature of bone substitutes and discuss their different biological properties. Generally, bone substitutes can be discriminated in osteogenic, osteoinductive and osteoconductive materials. The great majority of bone substitutes and especially synthetic materials serve as a matrix for bone growth and therefore possess mainly osteoconductive properties. The combination of these osteoconductive materials with osteogenic cells or osteoinductive growth factors, leads to composite materials with higher bone forming potential. Clinically, the quality and vitality of the recipient bone defect is of great importance. As a prerequisite for successful transplantation of bone substitutes or autologous bone, the recipient bone defect should be mechanically stable, free of infection with vital bone ends and intact soft tissue coverage. Bone defects in the spine, methaphyseal defects after trauma/tumour and diaphyseal segmental defects are typical indications for the application of bone substitutes. Unfortunately, the current literature does not allow concrete recommendations for specific bone substitutes or specific clinical indications. However, this review aims to discuss clinical benefits and limitations of bone substitutes for frequent indications to help clinicians in their decision making process.