Biomaterials against Bone Infection

Chronic bone infection is considered as one of the most problematic biofilm-related infections. Its recurrent and resistant nature, high morbidity, prolonged hospitalization, and costly medical care expenses have driven the efforts of the scientific community to develop new therapies to improve the standards used today. There is great debate on the management of this kind of infection in order to establish consistent and agreed guidelines in national health systems. The scientific research is oriented toward the design of anti-infective biomaterials both for prevention and cure. The properties of these materials must be adapted to achieve better anti-infective performance and good compatibility, which allow a good integration of the implant with the surrounding tissue. The objective of this review is to study in-depth the antibacterial biomaterials and the strategies underlying them. In this sense, this manuscript focuses on antimicrobial coatings, including the new technological advances on surface modification; scaffolding design including multifunctional scaffolds with both antimicrobial and bone regeneration properties; and nanocarriers based on mesoporous silica nanoparticles with advanced properties (targeting and stimuli-response capabilities).