Activity of fixed direct electrical current in experimental Staphylococcus aureus foreign-body osteomyelitis

Fixed DC was compared to ceftriaxone, ceftriaxone with 200 μA fixed DC, or no treatment in a rat model of methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus foreign-body osteomyelitis. After 3 weeks, fewer bacteria were present in bones of the ceftriaxone group (5.71 log10cfu/g [P = 0.0004]) and the ceftriaxone/DC group (3.53 log10cfu/g [P = 0.0002]) than untreated controls (6.70 log10cfu/g). Fewer bacteria were present in the ceftriaxone/DC group than in the ceftriaxone-alone and DC-alone groups (P = 0.0012 and 0.0008, respectively). There were also fewer bacteria on the implanted wires in the groups treated with ceftriaxone (5.47 log10cfu/cm2) or ceftriaxone/DC (2.82 log10cfu/cm2) than in the untreated controls (6.44 log10cfu/cm2 [P = 0.0003 and 0.0002, respectively]). There were fewer bacteria in the ceftriaxone/DC rats than in the ceftriaxone-alone– and fixed DC-alone–treated rats (P = 0.0017 and 0.0016, respectively). Fixed DC with an antibiotic may be useful for treating foreign-body infections caused by S. aureus. •Rat model of methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus foreign-body osteomyelitis•Ceftriaxone alone versus ceftriaxone with fixed direct current versus controls•Fixed direct current plus antibiotic active in S. aureus foreign-body osteomyelitis