Kit for treating bony defects

Abstract

The present invention is a kit and a method of using a kit for treating bone including a fill material mixture made of osteoconductive material, osteoinductive material and a lubricating carrier, a porous container to receive the fill material mixture and a tool that flowably introduces the fill material mixture into the porous container.

Description

FIELD OF INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates generally to the field of materials adapted to replace or assist a component of the skeleton of a living body. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system that surgeons can use for healing and supporting bony defects. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Bone grafts are commonly used in a wide variety of orthopedic procedures. In particular, bone graft is often used to aid the healing of bony defects. Such defects may arise from trauma or a pathologic condition, or the surgeon may require graft to support bony healing subsequent to a surgical procedure such as joint fusion or arthrodesis. [0003] Autogenous bone, also called autograft, is generally considered to be the “gold standard” in terms of biological performance. Autograft is often collected from the patient's hip. However, collecting autograft from the patient's hip is associated with a significant incidence of post-operative pain and the potential for add...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0007] To maximize the benefits of osteoinductive and osteoconductive fill materials, there is a need for carefully selecting and controlling the fill material flow into bony defects. It would be a particularly useful improvement to the Optimesh® System to fill the porous container with a fill material mixture that is filtered, under pressure, by the container such that bone inducing material flows out of the porous container and contacts the surrounding tissue, while the container restrains osteoconductive material in the container to provide support and rigidity to the defect.

[0008] The present invention includes a method and apparatus for healing and supporting bony defects. The method and apparatus of the present invention combine the advantageous features of osteoconductive and osteoinductive allograft materials. The present invention capitalizes upon the unique properties of each component by utilizing a mesh container placed in a bony defect. The allograft mixture is injected into the mesh container such that the osteoconductive material provides compressive strength to support the bony defect and the osteoinductive material encourages bone growth to aid in the healing of the bony defect.

[0011] The granules may be mixed with DBM or other suitable osteoinductive material, which is a fine particulate, and a lubricating carrier. As the mesh is filled with the cortical cancellous allograft granules, some of the particulate DBM may be retained within the filled mesh, but a portion of it may be free to flow out through the pores of the mesh. This results in a surrounding “halo” of osteoinductive material at the margins of the filled mesh, in direct apposition with the surrounding host tissue where it can initiate recruitment of the stem cells, thus encouraging bone growth to heal the bony defect.

Problems solved by technology

However, collecting autograft from the patient's hip is associated with a significant incidence of post-operative pain and the potential for additional medical complications.

In addition, the volume of autograft material available from the patient's hip may not be sufficient for the graft procedure.

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