Fusidic acid in bone and joint infections

The prominence of staphylococci as the causative agent in bone and joint in fections suggests that fusidic acid (FA) has a potentially important role i n their treatment. FA has been studied in a broad range of orthopaedic infe ctions, mostly in combination with other antimicrobials. For susceptible or ganisms, particularly Staphylococcus aureus, it has demonstrable efficacy i n acute osteomyelitis, chronic osteomyelitis, specialised forms of osteomye litis such as calcaneal and vertebral infection, septic arthritis, prosthet ic and other device-related infections. A small number of studies have also examined the use of FA alone for the treatment of bone infections, with ev idence of good efficacy, as well as the local application of FA in plaster- of-Paris (POP) beads, or incorporated into bone cement, again with promisin g results. Further studies are required to confirm the efficacy of FA in th e treatment of orthopaedic infections caused by methicillin-resistant strai ns of S. aureus. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. and internatio nal Society of Chemotherapy. All rights reserved.