Biodegradable scaffolds for use in orthopaedic tissue engineering

A review of orthopaedic applications and biocompatibility studies of biodegradable polylactic acid, polyglycolic acid and their copolymers is presented. The experimental and clinical uses of polylactic acid-polyglycolic (PLA-PGA) polymers in the field of orthopaedics have seen significant growth recently, especially as fracture fixation devices and scaffolds for tissue ingrowth. Some complications have occasionally been reported following implantation of PLA-PGA biomaterials. Some of these problems may be attributable to biodegradation byproducts, which alter the pH of the environment. It is postulated that since the mechanical and other physical properties of these biomaterials can be appropriately designed within certain ranges, other aspects of orthopaedic medicine-such as soft tissue repair, synthetic grafts, and bone augmentation scaffolds-may be considered candidates of PLA-PGA usage. To this end, the release of bioactive agents may be controlled and delivered in situ according to the needs of the repair tissues.