[Progress of biodegradable internal fixation materials].

OBJECTIVE

To sum up the recent progress of common biodegradable internal fixation materials and to forecast the possible directions for further research.

METHODS

The latest original articles about biomechanical properties, degradation characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of biodegradable internal fixation materials were extensively reviewed. Several common biodegradable materials were selected and expounded in different categories.

RESULTS

The disadvantages of stress shielding and the second time removal, could be avoided by using biodegradable internal fixation materials instead of metal materials. Biodegradable internal fixation materials could fix fracture stably and they were ideal orthopedic internal fixation materials. Natural biodegradable polymers had excellent biocompatibility but poor mechanical strength. Synthetic biodegradable materials could be artificially regulated their degradation rate and had better mechanical strength, however, they had shortcomings in biocompatibility. Composite materials could learn from others' strong points to offset their weakness, therefore, they had pronounced advantages over the former two materials.

CONCLUSION

There still exist many problems in present biodegradable internal fixation materials although they are of great potential in its application. Combining various biomaterials and using the specific processing technology to develop a biodegradable material which has better biomechanical properties, chemical properties and physical structure is the direction for future research.