Chronic osteomyelitis (COM) is an infectious disease caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), the main characteristics of COM including local dead bone formation, soft tissue infection, and repeatedly attacks. As a sensitive antibiotic, vancomycin plays an important role in the therapy of COM caused by MRSA. Currently, drug treatment is divided into systemic and topical, systemic medication is given priority to intravenous drug delivery; local drug application including local delivery device and local antibiotics lavage and regional arterial perfusion. In practice, its validity depends on whether free drug concentration of vancomycin has riched the effective concentration in the organization. Nevertheless, low concentration lead to treatment failure and even induce drug-resistance bacteria, meanwhile high concentration may cause acute renal failure. So when using vancomycin for the treatment of chronic osteomyelitis, both drug resistance and renal toxicity is as the same important as the effectiveness. Systemic administration is a targeting weak way and has many complications; topical medicate effect on the lesion can be targeted, it would be an effective way in the future treatment of COM. Different methods of delivering vancomycin have great influence on local drug concentration, which makes it become the most important factor on local drug concentration of COM.

Chronic osteomyelitis; Vancomycin; Drug delivery route; Effectiveness