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. 2023 Dec 27;17(S3):S75-S85.
doi: 10.14444/8563.

Implant Surface Technologies to Prevent Surgical Site Infections in Spine Surgery

Houssam Bouloussa  1 , Mohsin Mirza  2 , Brant Ansley  3 , Bharadwaj Jilakara  3 , James J Yue  4   5
Affiliations

Implant Surface Technologies to Prevent Surgical Site Infections in Spine Surgery

Houssam Bouloussa et al. Int J Spine Surg. .

Abstract

Spine surgeries are occurring more frequently worldwide. Spinal implant infections are one of the most common complications of spine surgery, with a rate of 0.7% to 11.9%. These implant-related infections are a consequence of surface polymicrobial biofilm formation. New technologies to combat implant-related infections are being developed as their burden increases; however, none have reached the market stage in spine surgery. Conferring antimicrobial properties to biomaterials relies on either surface coating (physical, chemical, or combined) or surface modification (physical, chemical, or combined). Such treatment can also result in toxicity and the progression of antimicrobial resistance. This narrative review will discuss "late-stage" antimicrobial technologies (mostly validated in vivo) that use these techniques and may be incorporated onto spine implants to decrease the burden of implant-related health care-acquired infections (HAIs). Successfully reducing this burden will greatly improve the quality of life in spine surgery. Familiarity with upcoming surface technologies will help spine surgeons understand the anti-infective strategies designed to address the rapidly worsening challenge of implant-related health care-acquired infections.

Keywords: antibacterial coatings; antibacterial implant surface technology; antibacterial surface modification; biofilm; implant-related infections.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests : Dr Houssam Bouloussa, Mohsin Mirza, and Dr. James Yue declare that they work for DeBogy Molecular, Inc. DeBogy Molecular's technology is briefly mentioned in this review.

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