Scaffolds for bone healing: Concepts, materials and evidence

Critical sized bone defects have to be filled with material to allow bone healing. The golden standard for this treatment is autogenous bone grafting. Because of donor size morbidity, equivalent synthetic bone scaffolds should be developed. Different materials, especially ceramics and polymers are in the focus of research. Calcium phosphate ceramics show similar properties to bone and are degradable. Different modifications can improve the bioactive features. This article gives an overview about the current materials and their evidence of clinical use. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.