Every year, the Austrian Association for Trauma Surgery (Österreichische Gesellschaft für Unfallchirurgie, ÖGU) honors the best experimental work in the field of trauma surgery. In 2021, the prestigious award went to Jakob Schanda, part of the shoulder regeneration group at LBI Trauma, for his study: “Zoledronic Acid Substantially Improves Bone Microarchitecture and Biomechanical Properties After Rotator Cuff Repair in a Rodent Chronic Defect Model”, which was published in the renowned American Journal of Sports Medicine.

The ÖGU invited Jakob to present his work at the association’s 57th annual congress, a hybrid event with the speakers present in-person and the audience online. With more than 1000 participants, the event became a great success.

Jakob’s study investigates the effect of zoledronic acid on bone microarchitecture and biomechanics in the context of chronic rotator cuff tears. Without treatment, bone mineral density at the humeral head is reduced in patients. Bone loss in the humeral head is associated with repair failure after rotator cuff reconstruction. Bisphosphonates, like zoledronic acid are known to increase bone mineral density.

Jakob and his co-authors from LBI Trauma and the AUVA Trauma Center in Meidling, were able to demonstrate that single-dose therapy of zoledronic acid provided an improvement of bone microarchitecture at the humeral head. They also found an increase of maximum load to failure rates after reconstruction of chronic rotator cuff lesions after the treatment.