Treatment of Facial Fractures Using poly-5d/95l-lactide (PLA95) Copolymer Plates and Screws

Bioabsorbable plates and screws were first introduced approximately 30 years ago, and various copolymers are now commercially available. This is a retrospective study reporting our clinical data using new bioabsorbable poly-SD/95L-lactide (PLA9S) copolymer plates and screws (Bonamates(superscript ®); Bio Tech One, Taipei, Taiwan) for the osteosynthesis of facial bone fractures. There were 40 patients including 26 males and 14 females, whose ages ranged 11~85 years. The follow-up ranged 2~20 (mean, 10.3) months. Four patients had solitary zygomatic fractures, 3 patients had isolated maxillary fractures, 6 had mandibular fractures, 14 had zygomatic-maxillary fractures, and 13 had multiple fracture sites (7 cases of maxillary plus mandibular fractures, 3 bi-maxillary fractures, and 3 maxillary plus frontal fractures). Three patients developed postoperative complications which required further treatment. Thirty-seven patients showed good clinical results either objectively or subjectively with high satisfaction. The advantages vs. disadvantages and indications vs. limitations of bioabsorbable devices are discussed. So far, bioabsorbable implants cannot completely replace titanium plates and screws. However, Bonamates(superscript ®) devices seem to be an alternative choice to clinically achieve rigid fixation in facial fractures.