Resorbable Implants for Craniofacial Surgery

Resorbable implants are effective for craniofacial surgery and offer important advantages over titanium devices, including reduced surgical time, greater simplicity and ease of use, and a much less invasive follow-up procedure.

The titanium modular distraction system invented by Dr. Steven R. Cohen, M.D., has now been redesigned to eliminate its disadvantages. The titanium plates and screws used were hard to remove after completion of the distraction procedure. Dr. Cohen worked closely with Dr. Ralph E. Holmes and a team at Macropore, Inc. (San Diego, CA, USA) to create a resorbable design. This eliminated the need for total surgical re-exposure to remove metallic components. The new implants are made from a medical grade 100% amorphous polylactic acid copolymer that retains around 70% of its initial strength after nine months and 50% after 12 months. The implants ultimately metabolize into carbon dioxide and water following a process of bulk hydrolysis and then resorb completely in about 18-36 months.

Recently Drs. Cohen and Holmes performed the first internal LeFort III distraction using the new resorbable distraction system. "Before the development of the biodegradable device, LeFort III distraction patients spent long periods of time in external or internal metal devices,” noted Dr. Cohen.




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Macropore