The use of silk-based devices for fracture fixation

Gabriel S. Perrone, Gary G. Leisk, Tim J. Lo, Jodie E. Moreau, Dylan S. Haas, Bernke J. Papenburg, Ethan B. Golden, Benjamin P. Partlow, Sharon E. Fox, Ahmed M. S. Ibrahim, Samuel J. Lin () and David L. Kaplan ()
Additional contact information
Gabriel S. Perrone: Tufts University
Gary G. Leisk: Tufts University
Tim J. Lo: Tufts University
Jodie E. Moreau: Tufts University
Dylan S. Haas: Tufts University
Bernke J. Papenburg: Tufts University
Ethan B. Golden: Tufts University
Benjamin P. Partlow: Tufts University
Sharon E. Fox: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School
Ahmed M. S. Ibrahim: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School
Samuel J. Lin: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School
David L. Kaplan: Tufts University

Nature Communications, 2014, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Metallic fixation systems are currently the gold standard for fracture fixation but have problems including stress shielding, palpability and temperature sensitivity. Recently, resorbable systems have gained interest because they avoid removal and may improve bone remodelling due to the lack of stress shielding. However, their use is limited to paediatric craniofacial procedures mainly due to the laborious implantation requirements. Here we prepare and characterize a new family of resorbable screws prepared from silk fibroin for craniofacial fracture repair. In vivo assessment in rat femurs shows the screws to be self-tapping, remain fixed in the bone for 4 and 8 weeks, exhibit biocompatibility and promote bone remodelling. The silk-based devices compare favourably with current poly-lactic-co-glycolic acid fixation systems, however, silk-based devices offer numerous advantages including ease of implantation, conformal fit to the repair site, sterilization by autoclaving and minimal inflammatory response.

Date: 2014
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms4385 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:5:y:2014:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms4385

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/ncomms4385

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().