Should in the treatment of osteochondritis dissecans biodegradable or metallic fixation devices be used? A comparative study in goat knees

Wouters, Diederick B.
Bos, Rudolf R. M.
van Horn, Jim R.
van Luyn, Marja J. A.

Publication date

January 2008

DOI

10.1002/jbm.b.30857

Abstract

Most of the metallic devices have to be removed, treating osteochondritis dissecans lesions. This animal study describes the biological and mechanical behavior of screws and pins, made of commercially available PGA/PLA and PLA96 and metallic screws and pins, used for fragment fixation. A sham operation served as control. A tissue reaction with cavity formation was observed around every PGA/PLA screw, beginning at 12 weeks following insertion, in contrast to once around a PLA96 screw (p <0.001), once around one of the 16 PGA/PLA pins and never around those, made of PLA96 (no significance). Disintegration of the PGA/PLA devices started 6 weeks following implantation against 34 weeks for the PLA96 implants. The gap between the fragment and the...