Polymeric debris from absorbable polyglycolide screws and pins

Abstract

The migration of polymeric particles during degradation of absorbable implants made of polyglycolide was investigated in the cancellous bone of distal rabbit femur by using a transverse osteotomy model. The osteotomy was fixed either with a 4.5 × 25 mm screw or with two 1.5 × 30 mm pins. The histologic sections obtained at 3, 6, 12, and 36 weeks were morphometrically analyzed using polarized-light microscopy. The migration of the polymeric debris into the host-tissues showed two different patterns. On the one hand, particles were in all specimens seen lying intracellularly in phagocytic cells in a regular front close to the original tissue-implant boundary. In addition, in several specimens there occurred expansions filled with largely extracellular polymeric particles that bulged into the hematopoietic bone marrow up to 2.8 mm from the original implant cavity. This kind of particle migration over long distances could not be explained by cellular transport, but may have been caused by an increased osmotic pressure that developed within the implant cavity during depolymerization of polyglycolide.