The present invention relates to a bone plating system and method for fracture fixation of bone. The absorbent pad comprises a bottom liquid impermeable support layer, a layer of absorbent material and a top liquid permeable layer, wherein a portion of the top liquid permeable layer is bonded to a portion of the bottom liquid impermeable support layer with an adhesive strip thereby enclosing the absorbent material layer. Each substantially flat top surface can have a root mean square roughness less than approximately 0.