Patent ID: 8377136

Claim:
A method of improving retention of an interbody device within a subject, the method comprising: creating an opening in at least a portion of an annulus of a disc in a subject; inserting an interbody device through the opening in at least a portion of the annulus, wherein the interbody device has at least one hollow space within the interbody device; injecting a biologically compatible polymer and a cross-linking agent into the opening in at least a portion of the annulus, wherein the biologically compatible polymer fills a space around the interbody device and through the hollow space within the interbody device to promote tissue growth around and through the interbody device; curing the biologically compatible polymer within the opening in at least a portion of the annulus; sealing the opening in at least a portion of the annulus to retain the interbody device within the subject; delivering a composition comprising a bioabsorbable liposome as a pore creating material and the biologically compatible polymer, wherein the liposome comprises an enclosed liquid droplet having an aqueous core, and further wherein the pore creating material has a rate of removal from the subject's body that is faster than a rate of removal of the biologically compatible polymer from the subject's body; incorporating a therapeutic agent within the pore creating material, the therapeutic agent chemically conjugated to a lipid component of the liposome or otherwise contained within said aqueous core of the liposome; and removing the pore creating material from the biologically compatible polymer in vivo after the composition is delivered to the subject, wherein the therapeutic agent is released as the pore creating material is being removed.