VARYING DEGREES OF BIOFILM INHIBITION BY GENTAMICIN, VANCOMYCIN AND DAPTOMYCIN LOADED ACRYLIC LOADED CEMENT: AN IN VITRO MODEL OF CEMENT PERIPROSTHETIC INFECTION

AimTo evaluate the ability of different combinations of antibiotic loaded cement to inhibit bacteria growth and biofilm formation.MethodCement beads were aseptically prepared using Palacos R (plain 40g PMMA cement) or Palacos R+G (40g PMMA cement containing industrially added 0.5g of gentamicin), with or without supplementary antibiotics as follows: Palacos R; Palacos R+G; Palacos R plus 1g / 2g daptomycin; Palacos R+G plus 1g / 2g of daptomycin; Palacos R plus 1g / 2g vancomcyin; and Palacos R+G plus 1g / 2g vancomycin. After production, each antibiotic loaded acrylic cement (ALAC) combination was allocated into two groups (group 1 and 2).The group 2 cement beads were initially eluted in broth at 37o C for 72hours then transferred to fresh broth containing a known concentration of bacteria. The group 1 samples were not eluted but directly immerse in culture broth containing bacteria. All samples were thereafter incubated at 37oC for 24 hours. After incubation, group 1 samples were visually assessed for b...