OBJECTIVE: To present an experimental study about the effects of ciprofloxacin on the bone callus strength on femoral fractures in rats. METHODS: The animals were divided in two groups of 8 rats each: the group study (cipro) and the control group. The animals were fixed with an intramedullary nail and submitted to a standardized femoral fracture. The group study was treated with ciprofloxacin and the control group with saline solution for six weeks. After that period, the femurs were analyzed using X-ray images and biomechanical three-point test, which measured the flexion strength in Newtons. RESULTS: The X-ray images and the macroscopic analysis showed that all fractures healed. The results found in the biomechanical study between the two groups were compared, and the cipro group presented a mean resistance to flexion force of 71.11 and the contol group, mean flexion force of 74,78. There was no statistically significant difference (p = 0.601, t-test). CONCLUSION: The results from the biomechanical tests performed on femoral fractures in rats receiving ciprofloxacin revealed no statistical significance from measures of callus flexion strength when compared to the control group.
Ciprofloxacin; Fracture healing; Fracture healing; Rats
