BIODEGRADABLE BONE CEMENTS

Bone cements are used to treat compression fractures, fill bone defect s and improve implant fixation in osteoporotic patients through reinfo rcement of weak bone. When the fracture repair is complete the bone ce ment ideally should degrade. In general, calcium-phosphate bone cement s are biodegradable and can fulfill this temporary function. Several r esearch groups have developed calcium-phosphate bone cements in the la st years which have a chemical structure similar to that of the apatit e of bone. However the conditions for processing the cement intraopera tively, as well as the mechanical properties and degradation character istic of the various products show great variations. Clinical long-ter m studies have not yet been reported so far. Whether these new types o f bone cements fulfill all the requirements for clinical application i s still not certain and remains to be determined in future studies.