Culture-negative Periprosthetic Joint Infection Research Articles

Culture-negative Periprosthetic Joint Infection Does Not Preclude Infection Control

Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) is a devastating complication after total joint arthroplasty. Lack of confirmation of an infecting organism poses a challenge with regard to the selection of an appropriate antibiotic agent and surgical treatment. It is unclear whether patients with negative cultures presumed to have infections achieve similar rates of infection-free survival as those with positive cultures. The purposes of this study were (1) to report the infection control rates using irrigation and débridement and two-stage exchange for treatment of culture-negative PJIs; and (2) to compare infection control rates in culture-negative cases with those in culture-positive cases. We retrospectively reviewed 55 patients with culture-negative PJI treated between 2000 and 2007. We compared the infection-free survival rate in the culture-negative patients with that of 295 culture-positive cases of PJI. Overall infection control rate in culture-negative cases was 73% at minimum 1-year followup (mean, 47 months; range, 12-119 months). We found similar infection control rates in culture-negative and culture-positive PJI. Infection-free survival rates in both groups were highest after two-stage exchange arthroplasty and postoperative vancomycin therapy. Our observations suggest aggressive two-stage exchange arthroplasty and postoperative parenteral vancomycin therapy in patients with culture-negative PJI achieves similar rates of infection-free survival as with patients having culture-positive PJI. Level III, therapeutic study. See the Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Two-stage Exchange Arthroplasty for Infected Total Knee Arthroplasty: Predictors of Failure

In North America, a two-stage exchange arthroplasty remains the preferred surgical treatment for chronic periprosthetic joint infection (PJI). Currently, there are no proper indicators that can guide orthopaedic surgeons in patient selection for two-stage exchange or the appropriate conditions in which to reimplant. To identify (1) the rate of recurrent PJI after two-stage exchange and (2) the role of 15 presurgical and 11 operative factors in influencing the outcome of two-stage revision. From a prospective database we identified 117 patients who had undergone two-stage exchange arthroplasty for PJI of the knee from 1997 to 2007. Failure of two-stage revision was defined as any treated knee requiring further treatment for PJI. We identified 15 presurgical and 11 surgical factors that might be related to failure. Minimum followup was 2 years (average, 3.4 years; range, 2-9.4 years). Thirty-three of 117 reimplantations (28%) required reoperation for infection. Age, gender, body mass index, and comorbidity indices were similar in both groups. Multivariate analysis provided culture-negative (odds ratio [OR], 4.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.3-15.7), methicillin-resistant organisms (OR, 2.8; 95% CI, 0.8-10.3), and increased reimplantation operative time (OR, 1.01; 95% CI, 1.0-1.03) as predictors of failure. ESR and CRP values at the time of reimplantation and time from resection to reimplantation were not predictors. Our observations suggest the failure rate after two-stage reimplantation for infected TKA is relatively high. Culture-negative or methicillin-resistant PJI increases the risk of failure over four- and twofold, respectively. We identified no variables that would guide the surgeon in identifying acceptable circumstances in which to perform the second stage. Level III, prognostic study. See Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Treatment results with debridement and retention of infected hip prostheses

A retrospective systematic review of the management of a periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) cohort of 78 cases was conducted at a single-centre, middle-sized Norwegian hospital from 1997 to 2007. We analysed 40 cases that were managed by surgical debridement with hip prosthesis retention followed by long-lasting pathogen-directed antibiotic therapy. A follow-up time of 58 to 510 weeks free from PJI relapse occurred in 27 of 40 PJI cases (67.5%). The need for a more advanced secondary orthopaedic procedure was recognized in 13 cases. The pathogen responsible for PJI was recovered in only 80% of cases, hence 20% were managed as culture-negative PJI. In cases without prior hip infection or hip surgery, success rate reached 96.3%. Multiple risk factors were found in most cases undergoing PJI relapse. Debridement with hip prosthesis retention should be restricted to only current management guidelines.