Wound healing phenomena in titanium fibre mesh: the influence of the length of implantation

In previous experiments a new type of percutaneous device for implantation in soft tissue was designed, containing a sintered titanium fibre mesh. The devices are inserted by a so-called ‘two-phase’ surgical technique with an intervening healing period of 3 months between insertion of the subcutaneous and percutaneous parts. From a clinical point of view, this time interval is too long. The aim of this study was to investigate whether it was possible to reduce the intervening healing period. The implants were inserted in the backs of nine goats. In each goat, six implants were placed with intervals of 1 week. Consequently, at the end of the experiment, in each goat six implants were present with implantation periods ranging from 1 to 6 weeks. After 6 weeks, the animals were killed and the implants with surrounding tissue were processed histologically. Analysis demonstrated that during the first 2 weeks an inflammatory response was present. Thereafter, no difference in tissue response was found between the various implantation periods. In conclusion, the experiment suggests that for titanium mesh percutaneous devices a 3-week healing period is sufficient between the installation of the subcutaneous and percutaneous parts.