Bone cement is used as a mortar for securing bone implants, as bone void fillers or as spacers in orthopaedic surgery. Antibiotic-loaded bone cements (ALBCs) have been used to prevent and treat prosthetic joint infections by providing a high antibiotic concentration around the implanted prosthesis. High antibiotic concentrations are, on the other hand, often associated with tissue toxicity. Controlling antibiotic release from ALBCS is key to achieving effective infection control and promoting prosthesis integration with the surrounding bone tissue. However, current ALBCs still need significant improvement in regulating antibiotic release. In this review, we first provide a brief introduction to prosthetic joint infections, and the background concepts of therapeutic efficacy and toxicity in antibiotics. We then review the current state of ALBCs and their release characteristics before focusing on the research and development in controlling the antibiotic release and osteo-conductivity/inductivity. We then conclude by a discussion on the need for better in vitro experiment designs such that the release results can be extrapolated to predict better the local antibiotic concentrations in vivo.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.