Arthroscopic shoulder stabilization. A role for biodegradable materials.

The use of metallic implants about the shoulder joint can be complicated by loosening, migration, and breakage of the implant. Bioabsorbable implants would be an ideal solution to this problem if their bioabsorption profile could be fine tuned to appropriately share stress with the healing tissues. The development of such an implant must satisfy four basic criteria: (1) The bioabsorbable implant must have adequate initial fixation strength to coapt the soft tissues to bone; (2) The implant's bioabsorption profile must enable it to retain satisfactory strength while the healing tissues are regaining mechanical integrity; (3) The implant must not bioabsorb too slowly or it will behave like its metal counterpart with breakage and migration; and (4) The implant must be made of materials that are completely safe: no toxicity, antigenicity, pyrogenicity, or carcinogenicity.