Tissue Reaction to Polymethylmethacrylate in Rats and Guinea Pigs

Abstract

IN 1890 Fraenkel¹ reported on the use of celluloid for the repair of a bony defect of the skull. Since then the increasing availability of plastics with widely differing physical properties has resulted in their use in many surgical procedures, particularly in orthopædic surgery, where the implant is usually intended to remain in the patient for an indefinite period. So far as I am aware, no tumours have occurred in man in association with any of the plastics implanted. In animals, the occurrence of tumours in relation to an implant of a plastic material was first reported by Turner² in 1941. He found that fibrosarcomas developed in relation to ‘Bakelite’ disks implanted subcutaneously in Wistar rats. Since that time, many chemically different plastic materials have been shown to produce tumours when implanted subcutaneously in disk form in rats, mice³ and hamsters⁴. Originally it was thought that chemical agents were responsible for the development of these tumours³, but now the form and size of the implant are generally considered to be of greater significance.