Purpose: The purpose of this study was to establish patient mortality following salvage treatment (debridement, retention of prosthesis and antibiotic therapy) for infection of primary joint replacement, performed at the unit.

Method: A series of 89 patients underwent salvage treatment for infected primary total joint replacement (47 hips and 42 knees) between 1998 and 2003. The average age of the patients was 70.3 years (range 31.8 to 89.1). A survival analysis was performed using death as the sole endpoint and there were no patients lost to follow-up.

Results: There were a total of 26 deaths with a mean time to death of 3.3 years (range 0.8 to 7.2). The 7-year cumulative patient survival of was 66% (CI 5, number at risk 21).

Conclusions: The morbidity associated with infected total arthroplasty has been well documented. This study highlights that patients undergoing salvage treatment for this condition have significant mortality, with up to a third of patients potentially dying by 7 years.