Osteomyelitis, an inflammatory process accompanied by bone destruction, is caused by infective microorganisms. The high success rates of antimicrobial therapy by conventional routes of administration in controlling most infectious diseases have not yet been achieved with osteomyelitis for several reasons. Local and sustained availability of drugs have proven to be more effective in achieving prophylactic and therapeutic outcomes. This review introduces osteomyelitis-its prevalence and pathogenesis, the present options for drug delivery and their limitations, and the wide range of carrier materials and effective drug choices, with major focus on the pharmaceutical concepts involved in drug delivery system design and development. With increasing numbers of orthopedic surgeries and the advent of combination devices that provide support and deliver drugs, local drug delivery for osteomyelitis is a topic of importance for both social and commercial interest
