Infected Total Joint Replacement

Abstract

Infections of bones and joints are always a serious problem with an uncertain outcome. Infections that involve joint replacement prosthesis are no exception. The development of air filtering and closed ventilating systems for operating room personnel and a reassessment of prophylactic antibiotics are direct results of the serious and often disastrous consequences of infection that complicate total joint replacement. Infections still occur, and whether they are from wound contamination or hematogenous spread is not the purpose of this editorial. Elsewhere in this issue (p 574) Burton and Schurman report on their methods of treatment of infected total joints in six patients and their results. Other authors have reported on infected total hips. Several recent articles that primarily report the results of various total knee prostheses also record the treatment and results of infections that complicate these procedures.^1-11 The "best" methods of treatment have not yet been standardized, hence the