Fig. 2

Visualization of femoral head osteonecrosis by haematoxylin-eosin staining. In group a, there was no visible necrosis of the bone or bone marrow. Typical osteonecrosis of the femoral heads was observed in groups b and c. At 8 weeks after the intervention, severe osteonecrosis appeared in group c. The rate of empty lacunae in group B was significantly higher than that in group A at each time point, and it was significantly higher in group c compared with both groups a and b at each time point. (* compared with group a, P < 0.05; and # compared with group b, P < 0.05. The blue arrow indicates the bone trabeculae; the green arrow shows the fat cells; and the black arrow shows the empty lacunae)