Bioabsorbable Skeletal Fixation System Devices in Reduction for Facial Bone Fracture

ABSTRACT

The rigid metal fixation devices are currently the most widely used in maxillofacial surgery. The use of metal plate and screw fixation, however, is not free of some postoperative complication. Once the fractures have healed, metal devices no longer serve any tissue purpose other than the potential for adverse reaction, including loosening, palpability, corrosion, and artifacts in CT and MRI, and they restrict growth of the neurocranium. To overcome these drawbacks, there had been a continuous research on the development of a bioabsorbable skeletal fixation system using polymers of polylactic and polyglycolic acid. There is an increasing acceptance of there use as an alternative fixation device in craniomaxillofacial surgery. We have used the BiosorbFX(R) system(Bionix Implants Ltd) in 48 patients of facial bone fractures. Age varied from 3 to 70(mean 34) and follow up period varied form 1 months to 10 months(mean 5 months). A total of 860 bioabsorbable devices(151 plates and 709 screws) was used. We encountered no significant intraoperative difficulties in obtaining placement of the devices. No patients has experienced any implant-related complications including infection, fracture instability or relapse, or radiographic evidence of osteolysis. The use of nonmetallic materials as a fixation devices that will be resorbed after facial bone fracture healing, therefore, would have advantages. The good results indicate that the use of bioabsorbable implants can be considered for the fixation of facial bone fractures.