Ofloxacin Loaded, In-situ – Gelling, Calcium Alginate Hydrogel in the Local Treatment of Bone and Soft Tissue Infections in Orthopaedic Surgery

Nowadays in orthopedic surgery -in the treatment of bone and soft tissue infectionsthere is an increasing claim for improving biodegradable drug delivery systems that can be easily placed into the site of application instead of the currently applied polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) bone cements, since PMMA has some undesirable side effects. Therefore the aim of the study was to develop an injectable, Ofloxacin-loaded, calcium-crosslinked sodium-alginate based drug delivery system, for local administration of antibiotics. It forms an elastic gel within a short time after injection, while its sustained drug release is controlled by a biodegradable polymer network. In vitro Franz vertical cell diffusion test and in vitro microbiological evaluation of the drug release suggested, that calcium-crosslinked sodium-alginate hydrogels are good candidates for replacement of the currently used non-biodegradable bone cements in certain circumstances.