Orthopedic Infectious Diseases Online Library
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Negative results on culture still pose a real challenge in the diagnosis of periprosthetic joint infection. There are numerous reasons for the inability to isolate the infecting organism from the affected joint, the most important of which is the administration of antibiotics prior to obtaining culture samples. For patients suspected of having a periprosthetic joint infection, antibiotics should not be given until the diagnosis is confirmed or aspiration of the joint should be delayed for at least two weeks after the last dose of antibiotics. Other strategies that can be used to enhance the likelihood of obtaining a positive result on culture include expeditious transport of culture samples, placement of a tissue or fluid sample in the appropriate medium, implant sonication, and prolonging the incubation period of the samples to two or three weeks. In patients in whom the prerevision aspiration has not yielded an infecting organism, yet the clinical picture is consistent with periprosthetic joint infection, a minimum of three to five tissue culture samples are recommended at the time of revision surgery. Biomarkers and molecular techniques, such as polymerase chain reaction identification of bacterial DNA, may play an increasing role in the future in the diagnosis of periprosthetic joint infection, when standardized techniques have not identified an infecting organism.
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BACKGROUND: One proposed strategy to increase the success of irrigation and debridement with implant retention for the treatment of acute periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) is the use of dissolvable antibiotic-impregnated calcium sulfate beads to provide a local depot of antibiotics. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcome of such an approach. METHODS: Thirty-two patients with acute hematogenous (18 patients; 1 bilateral) or acute postoperative (14 patients) PJIs who underwent irrigation and debridement with implant retention and addition of antibiotic-impregnated calcium sulfate beads were retrospectively reviewed. PJI followed 27 total knee arthroplasties and 6 total hip arthroplasties. The most common infecting organisms were methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (13 of 33) and Streptococcus (9 of 33). The primary outcome parameter was recurrence of infection according to the Musculoskeletal Infection Society criteria. Patients were followed up for a minimum of 3 months or until failure. RESULTS: At a mean of 12.7 months (range, 3-30 months), 16 of the 33 patients failed (48%). Acute hematogenous and acute postoperative PJI had similar failure rates at 47% and 50%, respectively (P = .88). Seven failures required a 2-stage exchange, while 8 patients were treated with chronic antibiotic suppression, being unwilling or unable to undergo further surgical intervention. CONCLUSION: The addition of antibiotic-impregnated calcium sulfate beads does not appear to improve outcomes of irrigation and debridement with implant retention in the setting of acute hematogenous or acute postoperative PJI. Given the short follow-up in this report, this represents a best-case scenario and the overall failure rate may be higher with further follow-up.
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