Fig 4. Effect of soak time and dry time on bacterial load of orthopedic screws.

(A) Soak time of sterile orthopedic screws in Staphylococcus aureus appeared to linearly relate to ultimate bacterial load (n = 2–6). (B) Dry time did not appear to decrease ultimate bacterial load, until 20 minutes of dry time (n = 2–4). (A-B) The ranges of soak time and dry time used for preparation of screws for the in vivo study are indicated by the red portions of the x-axes. The averages for soak time and dry time for orthopedic screws used in vivo are marked by an “x”. (C) Bacterial counts collected from orthopedic screws at day 7 ex vivo indicated a similar ultimate bacterial load among what would become different treatment groups (n = 7–9).