Fig. 5

Movat Pentachrome staining 14 days post surgery of the control group and the haematoma removal groups (D4, D7). The control group shows the physiological healing pattern (1) while group D4 (2) and group D7 (3) are characterized by prominent haematoma remnants and a delayed periosteal callus formation (overview top). The squares in the overview indicate locations of magnifications shown below for each group. a, c, and e depict a comparison of the haematoma remnants in the osteotomy gap. Note the progressed organization of the haematoma remnants (HR) in the control group (a), where connective tissue (CoT) predominates in the osteotomy gap. At the two weeks time point this connective tissue represents the normal bone healing development and indicated the maturation of the haematoma towards the soft callus phase. In groups D4 and D7 the haematoma is still unorganized with dominating erythrocytes and only a small amount of fibrin fibers without noticeable orientation (c, e). b, d, and f show the progression of the periosteal callus (PC) with respect to the osteotomy gap. While the newly formed woven bone in the control group (b) developed along the cortical bone (CtB) up to the original gap, this is neither seen in group D4 (d) nor in group D7 (f)