• Andrew Frost, Elmanzour Bagouri, Mark Brown, and Vinay Jasani.
• Spine Surgical Unit, Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, University Hospital North Staffordshire, Newcastle Road, Stoke on Trent, ST4 6QG, UK. frost.andrew@ymail.com
• Eur Spine J. 2012 Mar 1;21(3):449-54.

Study DesignReport of case series.ObjectiveTo report a problem with bioabsorbable poly-L-lactide-co-D, L-lactide, PLDLLA, posterior lumbar instrumented fusion (PLIF) cage implants.Summary Of Background DataSynthetic bioabsorbable implants have recently been introduced to spinal surgery and their indications and applications are still being explored. There is evidence that the use of bioabsorbable cages may be of benefit in interbody spinal fusion.MethodsWe present a case series of nine patients who have undergone PLIF with bioabsorbable cages in the lumbar spine.ResultsAt follow-up over at least 1 year, four of these patients were found to have osteolysis around the implant on CT scanning. One of these patients underwent an operation to remove the cage and histology sent during surgery suggested that the implant had caused the bone loss and there was no evidence of infection. Another patient had ongoing pain in relation to the lysis, while the other two patients with lysis remained asymptomatic.ConclusionsPLDLLA cage, which has high osteolytic nature, is considered not suitable as a fusion cage.

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