Appraising efficiency of OpSite as coolant in drilling of bone

BACKGROUND: During drilling of bone, which is common in clinical surgeries, heat generation increases local temperature in the drilling site. Transmission of excessive heat to the surrounding bone tissue can cause thermal osteonecrosis. Consequently, it may lead to failure of implants and fixation screws or delay in healing process. Using cooling is a method for limiting temperature elevation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, through comparing three conditions of drilling without cooling, external cooling with normal saline, and external cooling with OpSite spray, the efficiency of OpSite as coolant is studied. In this regard, 2 drill bit diameters, 3 drilling speeds, and 3 drilling feed-rates are considered as drilling variables in the experiments. RESULTS: For the whole experiments, while cooling with normal saline resulted in lower maximum temperatures than without cooling condition, OpSite had even better results and limited the temperature elevation during drilling of bone efficiently. CONCLUSION: OpSite spray, which has lower infection risks than normal saline on one hand and lower maximum temperature rise with all combinations of drilling parameters on the other hand, can be considered in clinical surgeries for cooling applications.