It’s no surprise that the question we hear most often is, “What exactly is Ostaguard?” We usually tailor our response for the person we’re speaking to and the perspective they are coming from.
If you’re in the orthopedic device world, Ostaguard is a first-of-its-kind antibacterial surface coating—as well as the first-of-its-kind to be granted De Novo classification by the FDA with an initial application in the field of orthopedic spinal implants. After being tested on numerous surfaces against 12 microbes that represent nearly all cases of device-related infections, Ostaguard was shown to be 99.99% effective in killing multiple strains of bacteria that could come in contact with an implant in the operating room. An FDA-cleared permanent spinal implant with Ostaguard technology safely and effectively kills bacteria by mechanically rupturing pathogens—and without the use of antibiotic drugs.
If you’re a surgeon, Ostaguard may increase the likelihood of positive post-surgical outcomes due to reduced microbial contamination in the operating room. With a thickness of less than 100 nanometers, the Ostaguard antibacterial surface coating is imperceptible to the human eye—but not bacteria. When performing surgery with an Ostaguard-treated device, the surgeon can follow the exact same steps and protocol as usual. There are no additional steps other than opening the package. Ostaguard allows you to provide patients with an extra safeguard against infection.
If you’re a patient, Ostaguard could save your life by reducing bacterial contamination during surgery. Unfortunately, numerous studies have shown that between 70-100% of explanted hardware from failed joint implants have some level of contamination and nearly half of post-surgical infections are attributed to implanted medical devices.*
Research has revealed that most device contamination occurs during surgery, primarily through aerosol particles, contamination from surgical gloves, and contact with the patient’s skin. Orthobond CEO David Nichols explains, “You don’t need millions of bacteria for an implant to become contaminated. Just a few hundred that land on the implant can cause a problem for patients.”
The problem of device contamination isn’t just persistent—it continues to grow. This is because current operating room protocols designed to reduce bacterial contamination during surgery only indirectly protect the implant surface. Since we’ve learned that it’s almost impossible to completely eradicate contamination and resulting infections, it makes sense that every implant should have some antibacterial protection.
Contact Orthobond today to learn how Ostaguard gives implantable devices an antibacterial advantage to effectively minimize implant contamination.
* Darouiche, Rabih O. "Treatment of infections associated with surgical implants." New England Journal of Medicine 350.14 (2004): 1422-1429.
