Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) Into the Future: Lowering Infection Rates in Cranioplasty

Surgical site infection (SSI) is one of the most common complications following cranioplasty. At our institution, 3D printing has emerged as a popular option for creating customized polyetheretherketone (PEEK) cranioplasty implants that are lower profile than older, non-3D-printed implants. The 3D-printed implants can be integrated, with fixation plates already attached, or nonintegrated, with separate fixation plates available. To our knowledge, no study has analyzed the differences in infection rates between integrated and nonintegrated 3D-printed implants.