Recent Trends in the Use of Bioceramics for Treatment of Osteomyelitis

Abstract

Despite the inherent ability of bone for self-repair, this spontaneous healing capability in some bone disorders is not sufficient. Diseases as osteomyelitis, osteosarcoma, and osteoporosis, usually demand medical and/or surgical interventions to enhance tissue regeneration, control infection or to handle the clinical condition. Osteomyelitis (OM) is a bone infection disease, where Staphylococcus (S.) aureus is the main causative microorganism. OM is characterized by elevated rates of relapse and mortality. Coupling local osseous delivery of antibacterial agents with bioactive agents capable of bone regeneration was intensely studied for the treatment of OM, proving their effectiveness. Bioceramics are widely investigated due to their osteoconductive and osteointegration nature. Among these are calcium phosphates (CP), which are distinguished by a similar structure to that of bones and diverse resorption rates. CP is applied in the bone regeneration field, either solely or as composites with different polymers, as scaffolds, pastes, cement, and hydrogels. In this review we overview OM disease with its pathogenesis and treatment, especially focusing on different CP-bioceramics used for bone repair.

Keywords

• osteomyelitis
• calcium phosphate
• bioceramics
• scaffolds
• composites