A Preliminary Exploration of the Efficacy of Gentamicin Sponges in the Prevention and Treatment of Wound Infections

PURPOSE: This study aimed to construct drug-loading and drug-releasing quantitative equations for gentamicin sponges in addition to realizing a gentamicin sponge for wound infection prevention and treatment. METHODS: Sterile sponges were cut into pieces of 1×1 × 0.5 cm and immersed in 40, 16, 8, 4, 1.6, 0.8, or 0 mg/mL of gentamicin solution for 12, 24, 48, 96, or 120 h to evaluate their gentamicin loading. The sponges were subsequently immersed in the gentamicin solution of different concentrations for 48 h, air-dried, and then immersed in 10 mL of 0.9% physiological saline to evaluate the gentamicin release. Methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were used to explore the sponges’ infection prevention scheme. In addition, a rat femur fracture with wound infection model was used to assess the infection treatment scheme. RESULTS: The antibacterial zone sizes of the sponges immersed in 40, 16, 8, 4, 1.6, and 0.8 mg/mL of the gentamicin solution were larger than those of the 0 mg/mL air-dried sponge, and the difference was statistically significant (p < 0.01, p < 0.01, p < 0.01, p < 0.01, p < 0.01, and p < 0.01, respectively). The rats in the 40, 16, and 8 mg/mL air-dried sponge groups had no wound suppuration in either the MSSA or P. aeruginosa rat infection models. CONCLUSION: A quantified equation for the sponges’ gentamicin loading and release was achieved with high accuracy. Furthermore, we recommend the 40, 16, or 8 mg/mL air-dried sponge for the treatment of wounds with antibiotic-sensitive bacterial infections.