Bioabsorbable instrumentation in treatment of cervical degenerative and traumatic disorders

Purpose of review: To present an overview of the history of bioresorbable implants in clinical usage and discuss pertinent animal, cadaveric, and human clinical studies that reflect its potential application in the management of specific cervical disorders. Recent findings: Spinal applications have focused on this technology to function as graft containment devices, reconstruction of bone graft donor site defects, and as interbody carriers for bone graft replacements or extenders. The cervical spine has been an area of increasing interest for these polymers. The tremendous advantages that resorbable polymers have over their conventional metallic counterparts are particularly appealing. The lack of image degradation, fusion stress shielding, and threat of long-term implant migration make bioabsorbables well suited for application in the cervical spine. Summary: Multidisciplinary acceptance of the use of bioresorbable technology in the management of specific spinal disorders is gaining widespread acceptance. Besides functioning as a bone graft containment device or interbody spacer this technology may also serve as a delivery mechanism for growth factors and antibiotics to targeted spinal regions of interest. At this time safety information and long-term performance information on the clinical use of resorbable implants in spinal surgery is limited.