Part 1: In-vitro release of gentamicinpalmitate coating in uncemented titanium implants

Microporous surfaces of commercially available uncemented Tilastan® implants were coated with gentamicinpalmitate. The roughness of the titanium implant surfaces remained largely intact. During the first few days, the gentamicin release was comparable to the elution of this antibiotic from commercially available PMMA bone cements. Compared to PMMA cements, the implants coated with the gentamicinpalmitate completely released the gentamicin within the first five to eight days. Both uncemented implants with a gentamicinpalmitate coating and gentamicin containing bone cements used with cemented implants sustainably reduce the infection risk. It can be hypothesised that these in-vitro results are transferrable to the well documented clinical findings of antibiotic loaded cemented arthroplasty, and can therefore potentially provide a significant contribution to the reduction of infection in the use of uncemented prostheses.

Keywords: gentamicinpalmitate coating, gentamicin base, microporous surfaces, gentamicinsulphate, gentamicin release, uncemented titanium implants, PMMA bone cement, Tilastan, anti-infective coating, health economics, hip stems, knees, biomaterials, polymethyl methacrylate, infection risk