Bioabsorbable osteosynthetic implants of ultra high strength poly-L-lactide: a clinical study

We have developed reasonably strong but bioabsorbable osteosynthetic screws, pins and nails made of ultra high strength poly-L-lactide (PLLA) and evaluated their use in 143 patients. The PLLA implants have the highest strength among those reported to date. They lose about 10% of their initial streng...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International orthopaedics 1994-12, Vol.18 (6), p.332-340
Main Authors: YAMAMURO, T, MATSUSUE, Y, UCHIDA, A, SHIMADA, K, SHIMOZAKI, E, KITAOKA, K
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Biocompatible Materials
Biodegradation, Environmental
Biological and medical sciences
Bone Transplantation - instrumentation
Child
Female
Fracture Fixation, Internal - instrumentation
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Orthopedic Fixation Devices
Orthopedic surgery
Osteotomy - instrumentation
Polyesters - therapeutic use
Prostheses and Implants
Surgery (general aspects). Transplantations, organ and tissue grafts. Graft diseases
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Summary:We have developed reasonably strong but bioabsorbable osteosynthetic screws, pins and nails made of ultra high strength poly-L-lactide (PLLA) and evaluated their use in 143 patients. The PLLA implants have the highest strength among those reported to date. They lose about 10% of their initial strength within 8 weeks, about 40% within 4 weeks and nearly 100% within 20 weeks in vivo. The patients were aged from 9 to 78 years, and the follow up was from 2 to 6 years. The implants were used for fixation of bone grafts in 84 patients, peri- and intra-articular fractures in 49, after osteotomy in 8, and in 2 others. Bony union was not achieved in only one case. In the early stages of the study, breakage of screws occurred in 12 cases (8%), mostly because of an inappropriate size of tap; these problems have not occurred after improvement of the tapping system. There were no cases with abnormal blood tests, infection or foreign body reaction.
ISSN:0341-2695
1432-5195
DOI:10.1007/BF00187076