Biocompatibility of silver nitrate and ofloxacine coated bioabsorbable SR-PLLA rods

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the biocompatibility of silver nitrate and ofloxacine coatings of bioresorbable self-reinforced poly-L-lactic acid (SR-PLLA) rods. SR-PLLA rods coated with pure poly(caprolactone-co-L-lactide) or blended with silver nitrate (10, 5 or 2 weight-%) or ofloxacine (5 or 2 weight-%) were implanted in the dorsal muscles of 25 male rabbits. Tissue reactions caused by implantation trauma were seen 1 week after implantation. The positive control and 10 w-% silver nitrate coating showed the most marked reactions 1 month after implantation Only sparse reactions were seen 6 months after implantation. Tissue reactions were scored semi-quantitatively. As a result of this study, we concluded that silver nitrate or ofloxacine coatings up to five w-% did not alter the good biocompatibility of SR-PLLA essentially. The method may lead to the possibility of preventing bacterial adhesion to urological stents during insertion.