Salvage Procedures for Management of Prosthetic Joint Infection After Hip and Knee Replacements.

Background: The increasing load placed by joint replacement surgery on health care systems makes infection, even with the lowest rates, a serious concern that needs to be thoroughly studied and addressed using all possible measures.

Methods: A comprehensive review of the current literature on salvage procedures for recurrent PJIs using PubMed, EMBASE and CINAHL has been conducted.

Results: Prolonged suppressive antibiotic therapy (PSAT), resection arthroplasty and arthrodesis were the most common procedures performed. Suppressive antibiotic therapy is based on the use of well tolerated long term antibiotics in controlling sensitive organisms. Resection arthroplasty which should be reserved as a last resort provided more predictable outcomes in the hip whereas arthrodesis was associated with better outcomes in the knee. Various methods for arthrodesis including internal and external fixation have been described.

Conclusion: Despite good union and infection control rates, all methods were associated with complications occasionally requiring further surgical interventions.