In vivo study effect of particulate Bioglass in the prevention of infection in open fracture fixation.

There are many in vitro experiments showing that particulate bioactive glasses have a broad and certain antibacterial effect, but there is no report about this antibacterial effect in vivo so far. The aim of this study is to examine the efficacy of particulate Bioglass in reducing the rate of infection with Staphylococcus aureus after the fixation of open tibial fractures in rabbits. The test in vivo was carried out with male rabbits split into two groups infected with Staphylococcus aureus at the right tibial fracture sites fixed with plate and screw, either with or without bioactive glass respectively. Culture results show that six of ten rabbits from the control group had a positive culture for the strain of Staphylococcus aureus ATCC25923, compared with six of the nine rabbits from the Bioglass group. The median radiographic score is 4.5 points for the rabbits from the control group and 4 points for the rabbits from the Bioglass group. The median histopathological score was 2.5 points for the rabbits in the control group and 3 points for the rabbits in the Bioglass group. In conclusion, this study showed no significant difference between the rates of infection of two groups. Particulate Bioglass did not reduce the rate of infection with Staphylococcus aureus after the fixation of open tibial fractures in rabbits.