Resorbent

Resorbent is a term used to describe substances or materials that are designed to be resorbed, or gradually absorbed, by a living system or by chemical processes. It is related to resorption and is most common in medical and materials science contexts, though it is less frequent in everyday usage than terms like resorbable or biodegradable.

In biological and medical contexts, resorbent materials are intended to perform a function temporarily and then disappear as the body metabolizes or degrades them. In bone and tissue engineering, resorbent scaffolds and implants provide initial support and guide tissue regeneration, later breaking down through hydrolysis or enzymatic processes to yield space for natural tissue to replace the material.

Common resorbent materials include certain polymers such as polylactic acid (PLA), polyglycolic acid (PGA), and their copolymers (PLGA), as well as calcium phosphate ceramics and some bioactive glasses. The rate of resorption can be adjusted by material composition, crystallinity, porosity, and molecular weight, with the goal of aligning degradation with tissue healing and remodeling.

In clinical practice, resorbent devices are valued for potentially reducing the need for secondary removal procedures. However, precise control over the degradation timeline is crucial; too rapid resorption can compromise mechanical stability, while too slow resorption can impede tissue remodeling or provoke inflammation.

Outside biomedicine, the term resorbent can be used more generally to describe materials that remove or dissolve substances, though this use is not as standardized.

See also: resorption, resorbable materials, biodegradable materials, biocompatible materials, tissue engineering.