[Intravenous bisphosphonates]

Bisphosphonates possess a fundamental role in the treatment of bone metabolic diseases. Yet their main limitations are poor oral absorption and gastrointestinal side effects, mainly esophageal irritation. Indeed, oral administration is unpleasant for many patients, and it is difficult in bed-confined subjects. Therefore, intravenous administration of these agents can be very useful in several clinical scenarios, especially to improve the compliance. Recently, it has been showed that intravenous bisphosphonates are very useful to control hypercalcemia of malignancy, and to prevent bone complications related to metastases. Their use has also been analyzed in the prevention of bone disease after organ transplantation. Thus, their application to control Paget's disease of bone is well-known, and probably they could have an important role as antiresorptive agents in postmenopausal and steroidal osteoporosis. We present here a state of the art of the use of intravenous bisphosphonates for the aforementioned disorders.