New injectable and radiopaque antibiotic loaded acrylic bone cements.

The use of antibiotic loaded bone cements (ALBCs) has become a common clinical practice in the prevention and treatment of prosthesis-related infections. However, due to antibiotic resistance, there is a general interest in broadening the antibacterial spectrum of currently used drugs. The aim of this work is to formulate ALBCs for specific use in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty, and to study the effect of the addition of ciprofloxacin alone and in combination with vancomycin on some properties of the cement. The cements were formulated using bismuth salicylate as the radiopacifier. The setting properties, residual monomer content, release of antibiotics, rheological behavior, injectability, and mechanical properties of these formulations were studied. They showed long setting times and low curing temperatures. From the release studies, antibacterial properties are assumed because the concentration of released antibiotic was higher than the minimum effective. Although the experimental cements had slightly reduced mechanical properties, the other alterations shown were negligible.