ReviewThe archives of bone and joint surgery2022
The Use of Calcium Sulphate Beads in the Management of Osteomyelitis of Femur and Tibia: A Systematic Review.
Review in The archives of bone and joint surgery, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- A retrospective cohort study comparing the effects on inflammatory response and clinical outcomes of vancomycin-PMMA versus vancomycin-sulfate calcium in chronic osteomyelitis.Annals of medicine · 2026Article
- Outcomes and safety of antibiotic-loaded calcium sulfate beads in orthopaedics: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of orthopaedics · 2026Review
- Local Antibiotic-Loadable Carriers for the Treatment of Chronic Osteomyelitis: A Narrative Review.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Managing Nonunions and Fracture-Related Infections-A Quarter Century of Knowledge, and Still Curious: A Narrative Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- A Case Report of Acute on Chronic Osteomyelitis of Distal Femur Managed with Sequestrectomy, Saucerization, and Stimulan Placement.Journal of orthopaedic case reports · 2025Article
- Primary diaphyseal tuberculosis of the tibia, presenting as a pathological fracture - A case report.Trauma case reports · 2025Article
- Orthopaedic infections: novel treatment strategies and evolving concepts.OTA international : the open access journal of orthopaedic trauma · 2025Article
- Clinical practice guidelines for antimicrobial-loaded cements and beads in orthopedic trauma and arthroplasty.European journal of orthopaedic surgery & traumatology : orthopedie traumatologie · 2024Review
- Unusual Sites of Brodie's Abscess and the use of Calcium Sulfate Beads: A Case Series.Journal of orthopaedic case reports · 2024Article
- Article
- Safety and efficacy of antibiotic-impregnated absorbable calcium sulfate beads (Stimulan) in cranioplasty.Journal of surgical case reports · 2024Article
- Article
- The role of implant retention and conservative management in the management of fracture-related infection.Journal of orthopaedics · 2024Article
- Are Biodegradable Calcium Sulfate Antibiotic Beads Effective and Safe Adjuvants for Diabetic Foot Osteomyelitis?Cureus · 2024Article
- Circular external fixation for knee fusion in complex indications.European journal of orthopaedic surgery & traumatology : orthopedie traumatologie · 2023Article
- Efficacy and Safety of Antibiotic Impregnated Microporous Nanohydroxyapatite Beads for Chronic Osteomyelitis Treatment: A Multicenter, Open-Label, Prospective Cohort Study.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- The efficacy of antibiotic-impregnated calcium sulfate (AICS) in the treatment of infected non-union and fracture-related infection: a systematic review.Journal of bone and joint infection · 2023Article
- Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Calcium sulphate is a recent alternative for delayed antibiotic elution in infected bones and joints. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the use of antibiotic impregnated calcium sulphate (AICS) beads in the management of infected tibia and femur, with regards to patient outcomes and complication rates (including reinfection rate, remission rate and union rate). Methods: Searches of AMED, CINAHL, EMBASE, EMCARE, Medline, PubMed and Google Scholar were conducted in June 2020, with the mesh terms: "Calcium sulphate beads" or "Calcium sulfate beads" or "antibiotic beads" or "Stimulan" AND "Bone infection" or "Osteomyelitis" or "Debridement" AND "Tibia" or "Femur". Risk of bias was assessed using the Risk of Bias in Non-randomised Studies of interventions (ROBINS-i) tool, and quality assessed via the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) criteria. Results: Out of 104 relevant papers, 10 met the inclusion criteria for data extraction. Total infection remission was 6.8%, which was greater than that of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA, 21.2%). Complication rates varied. The main issue regarding AICS use was wound drainage, which was considerably higher in studies involving treatment of tibia alone. Studies using PMMA did not experience this issue, but there were a few incidences of superficial pin tract infection following surgery. Conclusion: Where AICS was used, it was consistently effective at infection eradication, despite variation in causative organism and location of bead placement. Wound drainage varied and was higher in papers regarding tibial cases alone.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.