Bioactive Glasses in Treating Bone Infections

Bone infections are challenging due to their difficult and prolonged treatment, considerable possibility of relapse and strong negative physical and emotional impact. Since their treatment require thorough excisions, bone substitutes have been studied for restoring bone continuity, but with limited efficacy due to the pathophysiology of bone infections; one of the classes which proved to be efficient were the BioActive Glasses [BAG], synthetic biocompatible inorganic materials with a controlled ionic release, with demonstrated properties of wound healing, osteoconduction, angiogenesis and antibacterial activity. This paper presents the clinical experience from a Level 1 Trauma Centre where post-traumatic osteitis was treated using BioActive Glasses as bone fillers, demonstrating the potential clinical impact of these materials. The outcome of the patients was favourable, with no relapse of sepsis, therefore proving the efficacy of BAG in cases with limited grafting possibilities