Antibiotic-metal interactions in saline medium

The commonly used surgical alloys, stainless steel, titanium and Vitallium, were exposed to normal saline solution containing antibiotics frequently used for the control and treatment of orthopaedic infections and the corrosion potential versus time behaviour was followed. It was found that only one antibiotic, oxytetracycline, exerted a significant effect on electrochemical behaviour, producing an anodic shift of 120–250 mV in the Ecorr of the three metals. The study indicated that oxytetracycline at addition levels of 0.01–1.0 mg/ml acts as an anodic corrosion inhibitor.