In vitro study of three-dimensional printed metal-polymer hybrid scaffold incorporated dual antibiotics for treatment of periprosthetic joint infection

Periprosthetic joint infections that may occur when a prosthetic implant is inserted can cause serious problems in the human body. Infection by antibiotic-resistant bacteria is known to be difficult to treat because it can form a thick biofilm. This paper proposes a dual antibiotic delivery system capable of sustained release from a biodegradable material to treat periprosthetic joint infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Three-dimensional printing technology was used to fabricate scaffolds incorporating dual antibiotics. A cylindrical biodegradable polymer scaffold capable of releasing antibiotics was prepared by homogeneously mixing tobramycin or vancomycin, or a mixture thereof, and combining with a ring-shaped metal scaffold. The release profile of the antibiotics released from the fabricated hybrid scaffold was measured by high performance liquid chromatography and the susceptibility of antibiotics confirmed using Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. In addition, non-cytotoxicity of the antibiotic-incorporated scaffolds was confirmed. In conclusion, we successfully fabricated a metal-polymer hybrid scaffold capable of sustained release of two antibiotics therefore, it is expected that metal-polymer hybrid scaffold provides promising treatment for periprosthetic joint infection.