Absorbable putty-like implants and methods for their use for mechanical hemostasis of bone and for the treatment of osseous defects

1. A body-absorbable, mechanically hemostatic putty composition comprising Components 1 and 2 wherein Component 1 is an absorbable, finely powdered, carboxylic acid salt having a carboxylate anion and a metallic cation; and Component 2 is a liquid comprising

a first member selected from the group consisting of tocopherol, a C 2 -C 10 aliphatic monocarboxylic acid ester of tocopherol, a polycarboxylic acid ester of tocopherol, and mixtures thereof, wherein the first member of Component 2 makes up 4 to 27% of the composition by weight, and

a second member that is a block copolymer of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide;

wherein Component 2 makes up 10-70% of the composition by weight; and

wherein the amounts of Components 1 and 2 and any optional components that may be present are sufficient to form a putty-like consistency at ambient temperature.

2. The composition of claim 1 , further comprising an anti-infective agent or a colorant, or both.

3. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the composition is sterile.

4. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the first member of Component 2 consists of a member selected from the group consisting of tocopherol, the acetate, butyrate, caproate, caprylate, caprate and intervening homolog esters thereof, and the citrate or malate esters thereof.

5. The composition of claim 4 , wherein the first member of Component 2 is tocopherol or tocopheryl acetate.

6. The composition of claim 5 , wherein the first member of Component 2 is tocopheryl acetate.

7. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the carboxylic acid supplying the carboxylate anion of Component 1 is selected from saturated or unsaturated carboxylic acids containing about 6 to 22 carbon atoms.

8. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the metallic cation of Component 1 is calcium, magnesium, zinc, aluminum, lithium, or barium or mixtures thereof.

9. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the carboxylic acid supplying the carboxylate anion of Component 1 is an aliphatic acid selected from caprylic acid, capric acid, lauric acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, arachidic acid, and intervening homologs thereof.

10. The composition of claim 6 , wherein the carboxylic acid supplying the carboxylate anion of Component 1 is stearic acid.

11. The composition of claim 10 , wherein the carboxylate metallic cation of Component 1 is calcium.

12. The composition of claim 1 , further comprising demineralized bone matrix.

13. The composition of claim 11 , further comprising demineralized bone matrix.

14. A package comprising the composition of claim 1 or 11 , wherein said composition is sealed in an aseptic barrier package, and is sterile or sterilizable.

15. The package of claim 14 , wherein the composition is in an amorphous form or in a generally rounded form, or in a generally parallelepiped form.

16. The package of claim 14 , wherein the package comprises a plunger or applicator whereby said composition is expellable from said package by the application of mechanical pressure applied to the plunger or applicator.

17. The package of claim 14 wherein the package comprises a squeezable, deformable tube having an openable exit port whereby said composition is expellable from said tube by the application of mechanical pressure thereto.

18. A method for mechanically controlling the bleeding of bone which comprises applying an effective amount of the composition of claim 1 or 11 to the affected area.

19. A package containing the composition of claim 1 or 11 , wherein said composition is within an applicator comprising a plunger whereby said composition is expellable by the application of mechanical pressure applied to the plunger or applicator, wherein the package is sterile or sterilizable.