The use of silk-based devices for fracture fixation

Metallic fixation systems are currently the gold standard for fracture fixation but have problems including stress shielding, palpability and temperature sensitivity. Recently, resorbable systems have gained interest because they avoid removal and may improve bone remodelling due to the lack of stre...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications 2014-03, Vol.5 (1), p.3385-3385, Article 3385
Main Authors: Perrone, Gabriel S., Leisk, Gary G., Lo, Tim J., Moreau, Jodie E., Haas, Dylan S., Papenburg, Bernke J., Golden, Ethan B., Partlow, Benjamin P., Fox, Sharon E., Ibrahim, Ahmed M. S., Lin, Samuel J., Kaplan, David L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
639/301/54/990
692/308
Animals
Bone Plates
Bone Screws
Female
Fracture Fixation - instrumentation
Fracture Fixation - methods
Humanities and Social Sciences
multidisciplinary
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Silk
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Metallic fixation systems are currently the gold standard for fracture fixation but have problems including stress shielding, palpability and temperature sensitivity. Recently, resorbable systems have gained interest because they avoid removal and may improve bone remodelling due to the lack of stress shielding. However, their use is limited to paediatric craniofacial procedures mainly due to the laborious implantation requirements. Here we prepare and characterize a new family of resorbable screws prepared from silk fibroin for craniofacial fracture repair. In vivo assessment in rat femurs shows the screws to be self-tapping, remain fixed in the bone for 4 and 8 weeks, exhibit biocompatibility and promote bone remodelling. The silk-based devices compare favourably with current poly-lactic- co -glycolic acid fixation systems, however, silk-based devices offer numerous advantages including ease of implantation, conformal fit to the repair site, sterilization by autoclaving and minimal inflammatory response. Current bone fracture repair options include metallic and resorbable systems, both of which suffer from various issues and limitations. Here, the authors demonstrate resorbable and biocompatible silk bone screws, via in vivo testing.
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/ncomms4385