Osteorrhaphy

Good results are seldom obtained by wiring the bone fragments, i. e., a uniting of the fractured pieces by means of wire sutures (osteorrhaphy). Wire sutures generally hamper a normal healing of the fracture, because they act as a foreign body, delay consolidation and quite often lead to necrosis and sequestrum.

At our hospital, the temporal approach is most frequently employed, but osteorrhaphy by exposing the fracture site is also performed depending on the indications.

Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) is commonly used as the load-bearing materials of bone implants such as hip prosthesis, sutures in osteorrhaphy, and synthetic ligaments.