Chitosan films: a potential local drug delivery system for antibiotics.

Local antibiotic delivery is an emerging area of study designed to provide alternative methods of treatment to clinicians for compromised wound sites where avascular zones can prevent the delivery of antibiotics to the infected tissue. Antibiotic-loaded bone cement is the gold standard for drug-eluting local delivery devices but is not ideal because it requires a removal surgery. Chitosan is a biocompatible, biodegradable polymer that has been used in several different drug delivery applications. We evaluated chitosan as a potential localized drug delivery device. We specifically determined if chitosan could elute antibiotics in an active form that would be efficacious in inhibiting S. aureus growth. Elution of amikacin was 24.67 +/- 2.35 microg/mL (85.68%) after 1 hour with a final cumulative release of 27.31 +/- 2.86 microg/mL (96.23%) after 72 hours. Elution of daptomycin was 10.17 +/- 3.83 microg/mL after 1 hour (31.61% release) and 28.72 +/- 6.80 microg/mL after 72 hours (88.55%). The data from the elution study suggested effective release of amikacin and daptomycin. The activity studies indicated the eluants inhibited the growth of S. aureus. Incorporating antibiotics in chitosan could provide alternative methods of treating musculoskeletal infections.