Use of Polyvinyl Sponge in Neurosurgery

O NE of the pr imary problems facing a neurosurgeon in operative procedures necessitating sacrifice of the dura mater or requiring repair of cranial or spinal dural or bony defects is the assurance of water t ight closure of the cerebral or spinal dural envelope. Polyvinyl plastic sponge has been used recently with success in various surgical procedures. 1-a I t occurred to us tha t such material, namely, wettable plastic sponge with numerous interstices through which blood vessels and connective tissue can grow to form a neomembrane of connective tissue and sponge, might be useful in its application to some of the problems encountered in the practice of neurosurgery, t To this end a series of dogs was operated on in an a t t empt to elucidate the mechanism by which this material is incorporated into living tissue in and about the nervous system.