[Allergy to metal following osteosynthesis].

Corrosions of metallic implants can lead to demonstrable accumulation of implant-specific metals in the tissue surrounding the implant. This can give rise to metal sensitization after activation of cellular immune mechanism of the body. A connection between metal sensitization and bone infection morbidity after insertion of metallic implants is thus conceivable. In our investigations to clarify this question, we were able to obtain the following results using the leukocyte migration inhibition test for cobalt, chromium and nickel on various investigation groups after statistical analysis: 1. Patients bearing metallic implants without infection show the same rate of metal allergy as persons without implants. 2. Patients bearing metallic implants with infection show an increased rate of allergy to cobalt and nickel compared to persons without implants and to patients bearing metallic implants without infection. They are sensitive to one of the three tested metals more than twice as frequently as patients with aseptic osteosynthesis. Furthermore, this study has addressed the question of causality: Does metal allergy cause an inflammatory reaction or does infection cause sensitization, e.g. via increased corrosion of metallic implants following infection.