Bio-degradable

A bio-degradable material is one that is naturally broken down over a period of time and absorbed by the body.

 

Many applications for bio-degradable materials

Many bio-degradable materials are used these days in knee surgery. Examples include screws for fixing a cruciate ligament reconstruction, skin sutures and arrows for meniscal repair. There is considerable interest in developing bio-degradable scaffolds to support the growth of cellular sheets for joint cartilage and meniscus repair. Common bio-degradable materials include polyglycolic acid, poly-L lactic acid, poly-DL lactic acid, PGA/trimethylene carbonate copolymers, poly-p-dioxanone and poly-beta-hydroxybutyric acid.

Synonyms: 
bioabsorbable
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Related Content

2011 - MACI - a new era?

This is the editor's 'interpretation' of a 2011 publication in the medical journals that gives an overview of cartilage injury, a brief description of current treatment options and outcomes, and a discussion of principles and techniques of MACI.

2004 - Tissue engineering of the meniscus

An 'interpretation' of an article from 2004 discussing the concepts of re-growing a meniscus from scaffolds and stem cells.

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CLINICAL PUBLICATIONS

Bioabsorbable versus metallic interference screws for graft fixation in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Franciozi CES, Lenza M, Tamaoki MJ, Magnussen RA, Faloppa F, Belloti JC and Debieux P. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016 Jul; 2016(7): CD009772.

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