[Local preventive antibiotic treatment in intramedullary nailing with gentamycin impregnated biomaterials]

The benefit of antibiotics applied intravenously to avoid postoperative infection after intramedullary nailing has not yet been proven. Local antibiotic-releasing systems might be more effective because of the high concentration available in the compartments of interest. We report on the pharmacokinetic results of ten patients with intramedullary nailing of the tibia, respectively 15 patients undergoing the same procedure at the femur, in whom we used gentamicin-impregnated biomaterials for perioperative prophylaxis. The elution of gentamicin from a collagen sponge was complete and pharmacokinetic data suggest this drug releasing system is superior to PMMA beads in respect of the studied indication.