Antibiotic-impregnated acrylic bone cement.

In vitro and in vivo experiments were performed to study the antibacterial and mechanical properties of Simplex and Palacos acrylic bone cements utilized for the production of acrylic cement-antibiotic composites. Acrylic cement without antibiotic had no bacteriostatic effect on Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas. Oxacillin, cefazolin, and gentamicin are stable in acrylic cement and are released in a microbiologically active form. The three antibiotics diffused from the Palacos in larger amounts daily and for a significantly longer time than from the Simplex. Mechanical tests demonstrated that admixture of antibiotics and acrylic cement had no influence on the compressive and diametral tension strengths of the cement. Bacteriostatic concentrations of oxacillin in wound hematomas were measured for fourteen days after implantation of an oxacillin-Simplex composite in dogs. High bactericidal concentrations of the antibiotic were measured in the surrounding bone for twenty-one days after implantation.