WOUND-HEALING PHENOMENA IN TITANIUM FIBER MESH - THE INFLUENCE OF THELENGTH OF IMPLANTATION

In previous experiments a new type of percutaneous device for implanta tion in soft tissue was designed, containing a sintered titanium fibre mesh. The devices are inserted by a so-called 'two-phase' surgical te chnique with an intervening healing period of 3 months between inserti on of the subcutaneous and percutaneous parts. From a clinical point o f view, this time interval is too long. The aim of this study was to i nvestigate whether it was possible to reduce the intervening healing p eriod. The implants were inserted in the backs of nine goats. In each goat, six implants were placed with intervals of 1 week. Consequently, at the end of the experiment, in each goat six implants were present with implantation periods ranging from 1 to 6 weeks. After 6 weeks, th e animals were killed and the implants with surrounding tissue were pr ocessed histologically. Analysis demonstrated that during the first 2 weeks an inflammatory response was present. Thereafter, no difference in tissue response was found between the various implantation periods. In conclusion, the experiment suggests that for titanium mesh percuta neous devices a 3-week healing period is sufficient between the instal lation of the subcutaneous and percutaneous parts. (C) 1996 Elsevier S cience Limited.