First results of a uniform regional treatment protocol and registration for acute prosthetic join infection in the South-East of the Netherlands.

Prosthetic joint infection (PJI) is a relatively uncommon (average incidence 0.5-2%) but devastating complication, with significant morbidity and leading to tremendously increased health care costs. In 2013, delegates from nine hospitals covering a large region in the South-East Netherlands composed one combined treatment protocol for acute PJI of total hip and knee arthroplasty (THA and TKA).

Optimization of the empirical antibiotic choice during the treatment of acute prosthetic joint infections: a retrospective analysis of 91 patients.

Background and purpose - The preferred treatment of an acute prosthetic joint infection (PJI) is debridement, antibiotics, irrigation and retention of the prosthesis (DAIR). The antibiotic treatment consists of an empirical and targeted phase. In the empirical phase, intravenous antibiotics are started after surgery before micro-organisms are determined in microbiological cultures.

Reason for revision TKA predicts clinical outcome: prospective evaluation of 150 consecutive patients with 2-years followup.

Background: There is limited knowledge regarding the relationship between the reason for revising a TKA and the clinical outcome in terms of satisfaction, pain, and function with time.

Questions/purposes: In a cohort of patients receiving a fully revised TKA, we hypothesized (1) outcomes would differ according to reason for revision at 2 years, (2) outcomes would improve gradually during those 2 years, (3) rates of complications differ depending on the reason for revision, and (4) patients with complications have lower scores.

Methods: We studied a prospective cohort of 150 patients receiving a fully revised TKA using a single implant system in two high-volume centers at 24 months of followup.