The Efficacy of the Titanium Oxide-Coated Screws in the Prevention of Implant-Related Infections; An Experimental Animal Study

Abstract

Objective: The treatment of the implant related spinal infection requires long-term antibiotic use and causes prolonged hospital stay; even then in some cases the treatment goals cannot be achieved. This study aims to investigate the efficiency of TiO2-coated screws for the treatment of the implant-associated infections in rat spines. Methods: 32 female white Sprague Dawley rats were randomized into 4 groups, each consisting of 8 animals. Under anesthesia, a 3-mm titanium micro screw was implanted in the thoracic spine. All 4 groups were inoculated with the same concentration of Staphylococcus aureus (106 CFU/10μlt). Group 1 and 2 were assigned as titanium screw implanted groups and group 3 and 4 were assigned as TiO2-coated screw implanted groups. Results: All animals were sacrificed after 21 days. The results were analyzed using "Mann Whitney-U" test. When the groups were compared, no statistically significant microbiological difference was found between the TiO2-coated screw groups and the titanium screw groups. However, the pathologic evaluation indicated that the inflammatory signs were milder in the animals implanted with TiO2-coated screws. Conclusions: This study has shown that coating the titanium screws with TiO2 has not resulted in a significant difference in the prevention of implant-related infections.