Introduction

The need for regeneration and repair of bone presents itself in a variety of clinical situations. The current gold standard of treatment is autograft harvested from the iliac crest or local bone. Inherent disadvantages associated with the use of autogenous bone include limited supply, increased operating time and donor site morbidity. This study utilized a challenging model of posterolateral fusion to evaluate the in vivo response of an engineered collagen carrier combined with nano-structured hydroxyapatite (NanOss Bioactive 3D, Pioneer Surgical) compared to a collagen porous beta-tricalcium phosphate bone void filler (Vitoss BA, Orthovita).