[New principles of using biodegradable implants in the treatment of fractures]

So far the operative treatment of bone fractures has resolved itself to immobilisation and bone fragment joining with the help of metal implants such as nails, screws, plates and wires. Once the bone had healed, they had to be removed. This action bears some risk, e.g. extremity disfunction, wound infection. This requires re-hospitalization and increases social cost of the treatment. These reasons gave rise to research on new, biodegradable materials. One of them is "Biofix" manufactures as threads or nails, employed when immobilising bone fragments. Application of "Biofix" allows early rehabilitation. In 200 cases we utilized "Biofix" reinforced with a wire loop, which brought about positive results. In isolated cases there occurred inflammation of the tissues that surrounded the implant during its biodegradation. The surrounded tissues exhibited an acid reaction of pH 3-4. The biodegradable material "Biofix" is sensitive to torsion, which hinders making screws of it, hence the method of using it for nails, wire and thread. This issue is dealt with the Kampere Technical University.