Influence of a Pre-blended Antibiotic (Gentamicin Sulfate Powder) on Various
Mechanical, Thermal, and Physical Properties of Three Acrylic Bone Cements
Gladius Lewis*
Anuradha Bhattaram
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Memphis,
Memphis, Tennessee 38152, USA
* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
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Abstract |
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The aim of this work was to determine an array of mechanical, physical, and
thermal properties of three pairs of commercially available acrylic bone cement brands,
with the brands in each pair having the same compositions except that one contains 4.22
wt/wt% gentamicin sulfate blended with the powder by the manufacturer and the other one
does not. The difference between the pairs was in the viscosity of the curing cement
dough, with one pair of 'low-viscosity', one pair of 'medium-viscosity', and one pair of
'high-viscosity' brands being used. Thus, the brands studied cover the range of those
used in anchoring some total joint replacements (TJRs). The properties determined were
the strength, modulus, and work-to-fracture (all under four-point bending), plane-strain
fracture toughness, Weibull mean fatigue life (fatigue conditions: ±15 MPa; 2
Hz), activation energy and frequency factor for the cement polymerization process (both
determined, using differential scanning calorimetry, at heating rates of 5, 10, 15, and
20 K min-1), and the diffusion coefficient for the absorption of
phosphate-buffered saline at 37°C by the cured cement. For each property
determined, there was no significant difference in the mean values for the brands in
each of the pairs. These results indicate that over the range of cement brands that are
widely used in the anchoring of cemented TJRs, the addition of gentamicin sulfate powder
does not degrade the properties of the cement, and, hence, may not adversely affect the
in vivo longevity of the replacement.
Key Words:
acrylic bone cement, antibiotic, mechanical properties, thermal properties, diffusion properties
