Doctors occasionally use screws when repairing broken bones and torn tendons but patients sometimes need a second surgery to remove the hardware. There is a solution that spares the surgery.

Laura Rye has had three surgeries to fix a bad ankle.

"i had just over-sprained my ankle," she says. "So they tried to rebuild the ligaments in it."

In the first two surgeries, doctors used traditional stainless steel screws to stabilize the joint. In the third, Laura gave surgeons permission to use screws made of plastic.

Dr. Clifford Jeng, a foot and ankle surgeon at Baltimore's Mercy Medical Center says, "It holds the fixation of the bones or the tendons that we're using during the surgery but it dissolves away after the first six months to a year afterwards. So, it doesn't leave an implant in the foot."

The idea is to prevent the problems that metal implants can pose down the road.

Dr. Jeng says, "Sometimes the screw head can be prominent under the skin and can cause pain with the patient. Or sometimes a screw head may rub a joint or tickle a joint and cause pain."

In certain situations, the polymer screw may be less stable and cause inflammation as it dissolves.

"I go over the risks and benefits of each and they can decide for themselves," Dr. Jeng says. "I leave it up to the patient mostly."

Overall, Laura says she's happy she chose plastic over steel. Her ankle is finally healing nicely.

She says, "I know problems that can occur by leaving metal in joints. And I didn't want to have to come back and have another procedure to have it taken out."

Bioabsorbable screws have been used in the past but Dr. Jeng says the newer screw, made of polylevolactic acid or PLLA, is an improvement with fewer complications.