Over the past decade, metallic drug-eluting implants have gained significance in orthopedic and dental applications for controlled drug release, specifically for preventing infection associated with implants. Recent studies showed that metallic implants loaded with drugs were substituted for conventional bare metal implants to achieve sustained and controlled drug release, resulting in a desired local therapeutic concentration. A number of secondary features can be provided by the incorporated active molecules, including the promotion of osteoconduction and angiogenesis, the inhibition of bacterial invasion, and the modulation of host body reaction. This paper reviews recent trends in the development of the metallic drug-eluting implants with various drug delivery systems in the past three years. There are various types of drug-eluting implants that have been developed to meet this purpose, depending on the drug or agents that have been loaded on them. These include anti-inflammatory drugs, antibiotics agents, growth factors, and anti-resorptive drugs.
Keywords: bioactive coatings; biomaterials; bone tissue engineering; implants; infection; localized drug delivery.