ABSTRACT
Today the use of bioresorbable biomaterials in skeletal fixation is in a process of a major evolution in the application and understanding of all fixation devices [1]. The advances made in the last decade made the utility and applications in the clinical situations possible. Skeletal fixation is an essential element in the stabilization of the different components of any bony system. This shift in the evolutionary status away from the use of metallic implants, particularly in infants and in children, toward bioresorbable material in all applications in the craniofacial skeleton and in all age groups is to be noted as an advancement in technology [2]. The metallic implants, once popular in a wide variety of uses in the 1980s, are falling to the wayside as the application and sophistication of resorbable components become more accepted by practicing surgeons, particularly for all components of the craniofacial skeleton. Notable is the increased safety to patients due to avoiding the need for a second operation to remove these implants and the avoidance of passive internal migration and growth disturbances, particularly in children [3]. These bioresorbable implants are also invisible on radiographic analysis, thus making their use in oncological clinical situations an added advantage.
