Use of xylitol to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of polymethylmethacrylate-based antibiotic therapy in treatment of chronic osteomyelitis.

Using a rabbit model of postsurgical osteomyelitis, we demonstrate that incorporation of xylitol into polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) bone cement enhances the elution of daptomycin under in vivo conditions. We also demonstrate that this can be correlated with an improved therapeutic outcome in the treatment of a chronic bone infection following surgical debridement.