The effects of using a newly available water-soluble
polymer bone
hemostatic material in a contaminated environment were assessed in a rabbit tibial defect model.
Infection rates and healing of
polymer-treated bone were compared with the
infection and healing of
bone wax-treated bone and untreated controls after a bacterial challenge. Defects created in 24 rabbit tibias were treated with the
polymer or
bone wax, or left without a
hemostatic agent. The defects were inoculated with Staphylococcus aureus ATCC-29213 (2.5 x 10(4) colony-forming units). After 4 weeks, all defects treated with
bone wax were infected and
osteomyelitis had developed, and none had evidence of bone healing. In the
polymer and control groups, two defects in each group (25%) had
osteomyelitis develop. The remaining six defects in each group (75%) showed no
osteomyelitis and exhibited normal bone healing. The
polymer-treated defects had a considerably lower rate of
osteomyelitis and positive bone cultures compared with the
bone wax-treated group. There were no differences between the
polymer-treated and control groups in the rates of
osteomyelitis, positive cultures, or bone healing. The use of a soluble
polymer as an alternative to
bone wax may decrease the rates of postoperative bone
infections.