Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Orthop. Apr 18, 2022; 13(4): 339-353
Published online Apr 18, 2022. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v13.i4.339
Antibiotic-free antimicrobial poly (methyl methacrylate) bone cements: A state-of-the-art review
Gladius Lewis
Gladius Lewis, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152, United States
Author contributions: Lewis G controlled literature research and wrote the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The author declares that he has no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Gladius Lewis, PhD, Full Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Memphis, 312 Engineering Science Building, 3815 Central Avenue, Memphis, TN 38152, United States. glewis@memphis.edu
Received: April 7, 2021
Peer-review started: April 7, 2021
First decision: October 17, 2021
Revised: November 30, 2021
Accepted: March 4, 2022
Article in press: March 4, 2022
Published online: April 18, 2022
Core Tip

Core Tip: Although antibiotic-loaded poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) bone cements are widely used both as prophylactic agent and in the treatment/management of prosthetic joint infection, there is dissatisfaction about the material. A new generation of antibiotic-free antimicrobial PMMA bone cements (AFAMBCs) is emerging. The present review is a critical appraisal of the literature on AFAMBCs, highlighting its strengths, shortcomings, and possible areas for future studies. The conclusion is that state-of-the-art on AFAMBC formulations is such that it is premature to comment on the potential of any of the formulations for clinical application.