Intra-medullary antibiotics perfusion (iMAP) for the control of fracture-related infection early after osteosynthesis.

Purpose: In our hospital, cases of bone and soft tissue infections have been treated with continuous local antibiotics perfusion that allows for continuous circulation of antibiotics throughout the infected lesion. We termed this treatment "intramedullary antibiotics perfusion (iMAP)" for bone infection such as fracture-related infection (FRI) and "intrasoft tissue antibiotics perfusion" for soft tissue infection. Many cases are treated with both modalities. To introduce iMAP, this study focused on the patients with FRI treated with iMAP and reviewed their treatment outcomes.

Methods: We included 10 patients with FRI treated with iMAP between 2004 and 2017. The iMAP needles were inserted near the infected lesion, and an aminoglycoside antimicrobial was continuously administered. Patient characteristics, pathogenic bacteria, administered antibiotics, duration of administration, concentrations of antibiotics in blood and leachate fluid, fracture union rate, implant retention rate, and complications were studied.

Results: The mean age of patients was 59.9 years, and the mean follow-up period was 2.5 years. Affected bones were the tibia ( = 8), humerus ( = 1), and fibula ( = 1). Deep infections developed on average 29.9 days after osteosynthesis. Pathogenic bacteria were methicillin-susceptible ( = 6), methicillin-resistant ( = 2), and unknown ( = 2). Average iMAP duration was 17.1 days. In all patients, infection was eradicated while preserving the implants, and fracture union was achieved without complications.

Conclusion: iMAP is a novel local drug delivery system allowing high concentrations of antibiotics to be administered without complications and is useful in the treatment of FRI.