Antimicrobial efficacy and activity perseverance in arthroplasty of calcium sulfate beads containing vancomycin prepared ahead of time and stored in ready-to-use formula.

The use of local therapy with antibiotics in a suitable carrier is essential in the treatment and prevention of infections in orthopedic surgery and traumatology. In our orthopedic surgery department, a synthetic calcium sulfate hemihydrate (CaSO·½HO) is used as an antibiotic carrier, enabling the application of most types of intravenous antibiotics in the form of powder and liquid. This type of carrier with antibiotics is prepared in the theater during the procedure.

Vancomycin and its crystalline degradation products released from bone grafts and different types of bone cement.

Vancomycin is often used in orthopedic surgery as a local prophylaxis of bacterial infection. The aim of this work was to compare the release of vancomycin and its biologically inactive crystalline degradation products (CDP-1) during in vitro experiments from different types of local antibiotic delivery systems (bone grafts and bone cements). The concentrations of vancomycin and its crystalline degradation products were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography.