Patients’ safety: is there a systemic release of gentamicin by gentamicin-coated tibia nails in clinical use?

Arash Moghaddam,1 Viola Graeser,1 Fabian Westhauser,1 Ulrike Dapunt,1 Till Kamradt,1 Stefan M Woerner,2 Gerhard Schmidmaier1 1HTRG – Heidelberg Traume Research Group Center for Orthopedics, Trauma and Spinal Cord Injury, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany; 2Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Chemistry, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany Introduction: Osteitis is one of the most serious complications in orthopedic surgery. Expert Tibia Nail (ETN) PROtect™ coated with a biodegradable layer of gentamicin-laden polymer was developed for prophylaxis of osteomyelitis. In systemic administration, gentamicin has only a small therapeutic index and serious side effects; it is potentially nephrotoxic as well as ototoxic. It is not yet known if relevant gentamicin concentrations are released into the systemic circulation after implantation of gentamicin-coated nails. In order to evaluate the patients’ risks profiles and increase patient safety, we measured gentamicin levels in pre- and postoperative serum samples of patients undergoing implantation of ETN PROtect.Methods: Twenty-five patients who received ETN PROtect between March 2012 and August 2014 were included in this study. Collection of blood samples occurred before the operation, at weeks 1–4, 3 and 6 months, and up to 1 year after the implantation. Measurement of gentamicin levels in serum samples was performed at the central laboratory of Heidelberg University Hospital. Additionally, laboratory parameters, C-reactive protein, leukocyte number, urea and creatinine concentrations were analyzed in routine controls before and after operating and assessed for systemic side effects.Results: Over the course of this prospective observational study, we were able to determine that gentamicin-coated nails do not release gentamicin into the systemic circulation above the lowest detectable level of 0.2 mg/dL. There were slight increases in the mean inflammation and renal retention markers, but ...