Antibiotic delivery by nanobioceramics.

The role of nanotechnology has evinced remarkable interest in the field of drug delivery. Bioceramics are inorganic biomaterials which are frequently used as bone substitutes. They have been explored in drug delivery as carriers for antibiotics, anti-osteoporotic drugs and anticancer drugs. Bioceramic nanoparticles are excellent alternatives to polymers due to their bioactivity, pH and temperature stability, multifunctionality, biocompatibility and tunable biodegradability. The use of bioceramics for local drug delivery in the field of orthopedics offer an efficient, safe mode of drug delivery directly to the surgical site thereby overcoming the limitations of systemic drug delivery. This review focuses on the development and applications of various nanobioceramics employed as drug delivery systems for the treatment of bone infections.