THE PREVENTION OF PROSTHETIC INFECTION USING A CROSS-LINKED ALBUMIN COATING IN A RABBIT MODELY. H. An, MD, Assistant Professor1; J. Bradley, BSc, Medical Student1; D. L. Powers, DVM, Associate Professor of Bioengineering2; and R. J. Friedman, MD, FRCS C, Professor1
1 Orthopaedic Research Laboratories, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 171 Ashley Avenue, Charleston, South Carolina 29425-2239, USA. Correspondence should be sent to Professor R. J. Friedman. We evaluated the effects of a serum protein coating on prosthetic infection in 29 adult male rabbits divided into three groups: control, albumin-coated and uncoated. We used 34 grit-blasted, commercially pure titanium implants. Eleven were coated with cross-linked albumin. All the implants were exposed to a suspension of Staphylococcus epidermidis before implantation. Our findings showed that albumin-coated implants had a much lower infection rate (27%) than the uncoated implants (62%). This may be a useful method of reducing the infection of prostheses.
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