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- In North Austin, our surgeons use resorbable plates and screws to hold together bone while it heals after reconstructive surgery in younger children.
- The surgeon is able to bend the plates into any shape by heating and then cooling them.
- You can sometimes feel the plates as a slight bump under the scalp as your child’s swelling goes down.
- This technology has been around for over 20 years with long-term follow-up of safety.
- The resorbable plates and screws are made of a special blend of plastic that dissolves away in 9 to 12 months.
- The plates and screws dissolve through a gradual water-based reaction called “hydrolysis”.
- During hydrolysis, the plates may swell and be visible or felt as a small bump under the skin that was not there earlier. This usually happens around 9 months after the surgery
- If this swelling happens, it does not require treatment and will go away as the plates disappear over the next 1 to 2 months.
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