POROUS POLYETHYLENE SHEET IMPLANT WITH A BARRIER SURFACE - A RABBIT STUDY

Soft tissue adhesion to the porous polyethylene sheet implant (PPSI) r aises the concern of postoperative extraocular motility disturbance af ter orbital blowout fracture repairs using PPSI. A PPSI with a barrier surface (PPSI-B) has been developed to reduce adhesion between soft t issue and the implant. Six PPSI-B and six conventional PPSI were impla nted under the scalps of three New Zealand white rabbits. The implants were harvested at 2-, 4-, and 20-week intervals. Clinical and histolo gic comparisons were made between PPSI-B and PPSI with regard to adhes ion at the soft tissue-implant interface. Clinically, PPSI-B demonstra ted less adhesion between soft tissue and implant compared with the co nventional PPSI. Both types of implants demonstrated a complete fibrov ascular ingrowth by 2 weeks. Because PPSI-B causes less adhesion at th e soft tissue-implant interface, consideration should be given to the use of PPSI-B in repairs of orbital blowout fractures in which extraoc ular muscle is exposed to the implant surface.