Fig. 8

Histology and micro computer tomography of diaphyseal drill holes (a-d). a Movat’s pentachrome stained drill hole defect (dh) three weeks after surgery (left metatarsal bone) shows woven bone formation via direct intramembranous ossification (arrows; osteoid stained in red; ct = connective tissue). The border between the old cortical bone (c) and the newly formed bone is clearly distinguishable (triangles). B After nine weeks, bone defect healing progressed (arrows), but the interface between newly formed bone and old bone is still noticeable (triangles). c-d micro CT image (vivaCT 40, Scanco Medical AG, Brüttisellen, Switzerland; 17,5 μm voxel size) of a metacarpal drill hole defect three weeks after surgery filled with autologous cancellous bone graft. d The mineralized tissue within the drill hole defect can be analyzed separately