The Use of Acrylic Plastic for Vertebral Replacement or Fixation in Metastatic Disease of the Spine

Abstract

RYLIC plastics have been used extensively in the repair of skull defects 10.12 and have been tried not too successfully as replacement the rapy for worn-out in terver tebral discs, 2,'~ for internal fixation in fractures, and in arthri t ic spines? -4,7-9,n D o t t of Edinburgh 3 ment ioned his use of acrylic plastic in at lanto-axial subluxation f rom rheumatoid arthrit is , and his associate Harr is ~ has wri t ten of fur ther uses including the fixation of fractures of the cervical spine. Clinical and aninml work has shown tha t acrylic plastic properly used is no more irrita t ing than vi tal ium or stainless steel and t ha t the heat of polymerizat ion is a handicap only when in direct contact with delicate nerve structures or when uncooled by cold saline irrigation. With these facts in mind, it occurred to us t ha t acrylic polymer might well const i tute a rapid method of ver tebra l internal fixation or replacement in spinal metas ta t ic disease where the pat ient has only a limited life expec tancy and should not spend his last months immobilized in bed in casts or t raction. This is a prel iminary repor t on its trial in three such cases, plus conf i rmatory animal studies.