RESEARCH ARTICLE
Acute Infection in Total Knee Arthroplasty: Diagnosis and Treatment
Juan Carlos Martínez-Pastor*, Francisco Maculé-Beneyto, Santiago Suso-Vergara
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2013Volume: 7
Issue: Suppl 2
First Page: 197
Last Page: 204
Publisher ID: TOORTHJ-7-197
DOI: 10.2174/1874325001307010197
Article History:
Received Date: 2/6/2012Revision Received Date: 4/1/2013
Acceptance Date: 21/4/2013
Electronic publication date: 14/6/2013
Collection year: 2013
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/) which permits unrestrictive use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Infection is one of the most serious complications after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). The current incidence of prosthetic knee infection is 1-3%, depending on the series. For treatment and control to be more cost effective, multidisciplinary groups made up of professionals from different specialities who can work together to eradicate these kinds of infections need to be assembled. About the microbiology, Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococcus were among the most frequent microorganisms involved (74%).
Anamnesis and clinical examination are of primary importance in order to determine whether the problem may point to a possible acute septic complication. The first diagnosis may then be supported by increased CRP and ESR levels. The surgical treatment for a chronic prosthetic knee infection has been perfectly defined and standardized, and consists in a two-stage implant revision process. In contrast, the treatment for acute prosthetic knee infection is currently under debate. Considering the different surgical techniques that already exist, surgical debridement with conservation of the prosthesis and polythene revision appears to be an attractive option for both surgeon and patient, as it is less aggressive than the two-stage revision process and has lower initial costs.
The different results obtained from this technique, along with prognosis factors and conclusions to keep in mind when it is indicated for an acute prosthetic infection, whether post-operative or haematogenous, will be analysed by the authors.
