High systemic gentamycin levels and ototoxicity after implantation of gentamycin beads in a 70-year-old man-a case report

Gentamycin beads are used for muskuloskeletal infections. Gentamycin is released gradually from the beads, and high gentamycin concentrations are achieved only locally. Side effects of gentamycin are rarely to be expected with gentamycin beads since only low amounts of gentamycin are released from the beads, resulting in extremely low serum concentrations of the antibiotic. Only one case of prolonged raised gentamycin serum levels from gentamycin beads has been described to date, but no adverse affects were reported in that case. We present another case with ototoxicity.