Effects of Disuse on Trabecular Bone Structure

Healthy bone structure always changes to adapt to its mechanical environment. Disuse can cause a remarkable change of trabecular bone structure. The effects of disuse on trabecular bone structure was simulated, using the bone (re)modeling model with goals of physiological regulation, based on finite element analysis. The results showed that after the load in some direction became small, the trabecular alone the direction got thin, and structural mass decreased. After the load in one direction rapidly became small, such as staying long in bed, some trabecular alone the directions disappeared, which damaged the integrality of trabecular bone structure. After the original loads came back, the trabecular architecture simulated didn′t recover and was not so same as the original architecture. The effects of disuse to trabecular bone structure are irreversible. The bigger holes in trabecular bone structure can be caused by disuse, which may be one of causes of osteoporosis in ages.