Aim. In private healthcare facilities, the access to a specialized infectious disease (ID) advice is difficult. More, the lack of traceability is problematic and harmful for treatment and follow-up. We have tested an information technology (IT) application to improve medical transmission and evaluate an interdisciplinary ID activity. Methods. In November 2015, three ID physicians (IDP) created an interdisciplinary activity, visiting patients and giving phone advices among ten private healthcare facilities. They are members of the complex bone and joint infection unit of the community hospital where they are attached. Since September 2016, each advice was prospectively recorded on a protected online information system. These data are available for consultation and modification by the three IDP. It is the first descriptive analysis of this database. Results. From September 2016 to February 2017, 887 advices from 573 inpatients were collected. Median age was 69 years old and 56% of patients were male (n=320). Comorbidity was notified in 329 patients (57%): presence of a medical device (n=154), active neoplasia (n=76), mellitus diabetes (n=38) and renal failure (n=38) were the most common. Patients were hospitalized in a surgery unit in 49% of cases and of which 69% was the orthopaedic unit. By frequency, type of infection was prosthetic joint (n=111) and osteosynthesis device infection (n=67), urinary tract infection (n=57), skin infection (n=44), and catheter device infection (n=43). The presence of multidrug resistant bacteria was notified in 63 patients. Antibiotics were already administered before the first advice in 62% of patients. Advices were given after a medical consultation in the clinic in 353 cases (40%) and after a phone call with the physician in charge of the patient in 523 cases (60%). Antibiotics were disrupted or not introduced for 126 advices (14%), introduced for 133 advices (15%), modified in 337 advices (38%) and maintained unchanged in 291 advices (33%). New evaluation was effective for 171 patients (30%). Multidisciplinary meeting was requested for 54 patients. Conclusion. Use of an information system for interdisciplinary and multisite ID activity has permitted with a better traceability to improve management of these septic patients, facilitate storage and transmission of medical information. It is a first overview of ID activity in private healthcare facilities and these tools appear essential in the development of such activity and for public health policy

Aim. This study aimed to evaluate the impact on length of hospital stay from dedicated infectious diseases input for orthopaedic infection patients compared to sporadic infection specialist input. Method. We conducted an observational cohort study of 157 adults with orthopaedic infections at a teaching hospital in the UK. The orthopaedic infections included were: osteomyelitis, septic arthritis, infected metalwork and prosthetic joint infections, and adults were aged 18 years or more. Prior to August 2016, advice on orthopaedic infection patients was adhoc with input principally from the on-call infectious diseases registrar and phone calls to microbiology whereas after August 2016 these patients received regular input from dedicated infectious diseases doctor(s). The dedicated input involved bedside reviews, medical management, correct antimicrobial prescribing, managing adverse drug reactions, increased use of outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) services especially self-administration of intravenous antibiotics and shared decision-making for treatment failure, whilst remaining under orthopaedic team care. Orthopaedic patients operated on for management of their infection between 29/8/16 and 15/3/17 were prospectively identified and orthopaedic operation records were used to retrospectively identified patients between 29/8/15 and 15/3/16. The length of stay was compared between the 2 groups. Results. There were 83 patients in the dedicated infectious diseases input group (dedicated group) and 74 patients in the sporadic infection specialist input group (sporadic group). The dedicated group were significantly younger: median 58 years versus 69years (p<0.001), and there was a trend to significant differences in the breakdown of diagnosis (p=0.06), but no significant sex difference. The median length of stay for the sporadic group was 20 days (interquartile range (IQR) 13–29 days) compared to 14 days (IQR 9–27 days) for the dedicated group, with a trend to significance (p=0.06) but no effect from age or diagnosis. Our hospital values one day in hospital at £864, therefore over the 6.5 months trial period of the dedicated infectious diseases input there was a cost saving of £430,272 (£864 × 6 days × 83 patients). Conclusions. Dedicated infectious diseases input would be expected to improve patient care but by additionally reducing median length of stay for orthopaedic infection patients, this encourages investment to achieve both. In this era of increased scrutiny of health budgets demonstrating value for money, not just improved quality of patient care, is essential

The second wave of COVID-19 infections in 2021 resulting from the delta strain had a significantly larger impact on the state of New South Wales, Australia and with it the government implemented harsher restrictions. This retrospective cohort study aims to explore how the increased restrictions affected hand trauma presentations and their treatment. Retrospective analysis was performed on patients who underwent hand surgery from the period of June 23 – August 31 in 2020 and 2021 at a level one trauma centre in Western Sydney. During the second-wave lockdown there was an 18.9% decrease in all hand trauma presentations. Despite widespread restrictions placed on the manufacturing, wholesale, retail and construction industries, there was an insignificant difference in work injuries. Stay-at-home orders and reduced availability of professional tradespersons likely contributed to an increase in DIY injuries. Significant reductions in metacarpal and phalangeal fractures coincided with significantly curtailed sporting seasons. The findings from this study can assist in predicting the case-mix of hand trauma presentations and resource allocation in the setting of future waves of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases

Prosthetic joint infections (PJI) are one of the most devastating complications of joint replacement surgery. They are associated with significant patient morbidity and carry a significant economic cost to treat. The management of PJI varies from antibiotic suppression, debridement, antibiotics, and implant retention (DAIR) procedures through to single/multiple stage revision procedures. Concerns have been raised recently in relation to the rising number of revision arthroplasty procedures that are being undertaken in relation to infection. This database aims to collect data on all PJIs that have been managed in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) region. This will allow us to investigate the microbial trends, outcomes of surgical intervention and patient outcomes within our local population. This database will incorporate diagnostic, demographic, microbiological and treatment information in relation to local PJI cases. The data will be collated from the local infectious diseases database, hospital medical records, and where available the Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registry Data. The first 100 cases of PJI were assessed. 76% were defined as being acute. 56% of the patients received antibiotics prior to their diagnosis however only 3% were culture negative. 89% were monomicrobial and 11% polymicrobial. The intended management strategy was a DAIR in 38% of patients and a 2-stage revision in 12% of cases. The intended management strategy was successful in 46% of the patients. The ACT is uniquely placed to analyze and create a local PJI database. This will allow us to guide further treatment and local guidelines in terms of management of these complex patients

Aim. Decubitus ulcers are found in approximately 4.7% of hospitalized patients, with a higher prevalence (up to 30%) among those with spinal cord injuries. These ulcers are often associated with hip septic arthritis and/or osteomyelitis involving the femur. Girdlestone resection arthroplasty is a surgical technique used to remove affected proximal femur and acetabular tissues, resulting in a substantial defect. The vastus lateralis flap has been employed as an effective option for managing this dead space. The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term outcomes of this procedure in a consecutive series of patients. Method. A retrospective single-center study was conducted from October 2012 to December 2022, involving 7 patients with spinal cord injuries affected by chronic severe septic hip arthritis and/or femoral head septic necrosis as a consequence of decubitus ulcers over trochanter area. All patients underwent treatment using a multidisciplinary approach by the same surgical team (orthopedic and plastic surgeons) along with infectious disease specialists. The treatment consisted of a one-stage procedure combining Girdlestone resection arthroplasty with unilateral vastus lateralis flap reconstruction, alongside targeted antibiotic therapy. Complications and postoperative outcomes were assessed and recorded. The mean follow-up period was 8 years (range 2-12). Results. Of the 7 patients, 5 were male and 2 were female, with a mean age of 50.3 years at the time of surgery. Minor wound dehiscence occurred in 28.6% of the flap sites, and 2 patients required additional revisional procedures—one for hematoma and the other for bleeding. There were no instances of flap failure, and complete wound healing was achieved in an average of 32 days (range 20-41), with the ability to load over the hip area. No cases of infection recurrence or relapse were observed. Conclusions. An aggressive surgical approach is strongly recommended for managing chronic hip septic arthritis or proximal femur osteomyelitis in patients with spinal cord injuries. A single-stage procedure combining Girdlestone resection arthroplasty with immediate vastus lateralis muscle flap reconstruction proves to be an effective strategy for dead space management and localized antibiotic delivery through the vastus muscle, giving reliable soft tissue coverage around the proximal femur to avoid the recurrence of pressure ulcers. The implementation of a standardized multidisciplinary protocol contributes significantly to the success of reconstruction efforts

Aim. Bone infections often manifest with soft tissue complications such as severe scarring, fistulas, or ulcerations. Ideally, their management involves thorough debridement of infected bone and associated soft tissues, along with achieving stable bone structure, substantial tissue coverage, and long-term antibiotic therapy. The formation of a multidisciplinary team comprising orthopedic surgeons, plastic surgeons, and infectious disease specialists is essential in addressing the most complex cases. Method. We conducted a retrospective study during six years (2018-2023) at our university center. Focusing on the most challenging cases, we included patients with bone infections in the leg and/or foot requiring free flap reconstruction. Each patient underwent simultaneous bone debridement and reconstruction by the orthopedic team, alongside soft tissue debridement and free flap reconstruction by the plastic surgery team. Targeted antibiotic therapy for either 6 weeks (acute) or 12 weeks (chronic osteitis) was initiated based on intraoperative cultures. Additional procedures such as allografts, arthrodesis, or autografts were performed if necessary. We analyzed the rates of bone union, infection resolution, and limb preservation. Results. Forty-five patients were enrolled. Twenty-four patients (53.3%) had urgent indications (e.g., open infected fractures, osteitis, acute osteoarthritis, or wound dehiscence), while 21 (46.7%) underwent elective surgery (e.g., septic pseudarthrosis or chronic osteitis). Two patients underwent amputation due to flap failure (4.4%), and one patient was lost to follow-up. Follow-up of the remaining 42 patients averaged 28 months (range: 6–60 months). During this period, 35 patients (83.4%) experienced no recurrence of infection. Similarly, 35 patients (83.4%) achieved bone union. Overall, the rate of lower limb preservation was 93.3%. Conclusions. Managing bone infection coupled with soft tissue defects brings significant challenges. Although the majority of patients treated here belong to a complex framework based on the BACH classification, the outcomes achieved here appear to align with those of the simpler cases, thanks to optimal care with a dedicated septic ortho-plastic team. Our study demonstrates a notable success rate in treating infection, achieving bone consolidation, and preserving lower limb function

Aim. It still remains unclear whether postoperative antibiotic treatment is advantageous in presumed aseptic revision-arthroplasties of the hip (rTHA) and knee (rTKA) with unexpected-positive-intraoperative-cultures (UPIC). The aim of this study was to evaluate if there is a difference in the septic and/or aseptic re-revision rate in patients with or without postoperative antibiotics. Method. In this retrospective propensity-score (PS) matched cohort-study we compared the re-revision rate and the microbiological spectrum in rTHA and rTKA treated with (AB-Group; n=70) and without (non-AB-Group; n=70) antibiotic treatment in patients with UPIC. Baseline covariates for PS-matching were type of revision, sex, Body-Mass-Index, age, Surgical-Site-Infection-Score, American-Society-of-Anesthesiologists-Classification, serum C-reactive-protein. All patients received routine antibiotic prophylaxis, but empiric AB treatment was started only in patients in the AB-Group. Post-operative treatment was decided on an individual basis according to the preference of the surgeon and the infectious disease specialist for a minimum duration of two weeks. In total, 90 rTHA (45 AB-Group, 45 in non-AB-Group) patients with UPICs and 50 rTKA (25 AB-Group, 25 in non-AB-Group) were included in the study. There was no significant variation in patient demographics. Results. After a median follow-up of 4.1 (IQR: 2.9-5.5) years after rTHA and rTKA, there was no higher re-revision rate (p=0.813) between the AB-group 10/70 (14.3%), and the non-AB-group 11/70 (15.7%). In the AB group, 4.3% (3/70) of patients underwent revision due to septic complications compared to 5.7% (4/70) in the non-AB group (survival log-rank: p=0.691). In total, 30/70 (42.9%) of patients in the AB-group and 23/70 (32.9%) of patients in the non-AB group were diagnosed as having an “infection likely” according to the PJI diagnostic criteria of EBJIS (p=0.223). All UPICs comprised low virulent microorganisms and were considered as a contaminant. In total, 68/70 (97.1%) of the patients in the AB-group received a dual antibiotic treatment for a mean duration of 41 (IQR: 23.5-56.5) days. Conclusion. Postoperative antibiotic treatment did not result in a decreased re-revision rate compared to non-antibiotic treatment in patients with UPIC in presumed aseptic rTHA and rTKA. UPICs with pathogens are likely to be a containment and therefore the classification of “infection likely” according to the EBJIS definition can be safely ignored

Aim. Bone and joint infection requires antimicrobial treatment for 6 to 12 weeks. When patients are well prepared and instructed regarding their therapy, they are more likely to have less side effects and improved compliance. Although side effects are common, this coaching is often not routinely performed when oral treatment is given. We developed a monitoring and guidance program for our outpatients who are on long term antimicrobial therapy, in which we can early signal side effects and treatment failure and coach the patients in their journey of infection treatment. Method. In our tertiary referral centre for orthopaedic infections, we started the outpatient monitoring of antimicrobial treatment (OMAT)- team for patients who will receive antimicrobial therapy for >2 weeks. Before discharge, our trained nurse gives instruction to the patient. Within 3 days after hospital discharge the patient is contacted by phone to, if necessary, clarify ambiguities in monitoring set up. During this contact, the nurse checks for side effects, addresses logistic problems regarding laboratory monitoring or future appointments and coaches patients for other questions. The patient is instructed how to recognize and who to contact in case of red flags and problems possibly related to the treatment. This is repeated after every laboratory check-up. Supervision is performed by an infectious disease specialist in close collaboration with the patient's surgeon. Results. The OMAT-team started in October 2020 and consists of 3 trained nurses and 3 ID specialist. In one year, 453 patients were proactively monitored for a mean of 11 weeks. Routinely, laboratory measurements were performed 1 week after the start of therapy and every 3–4 weeks thereafter, which resulted in 2711 contacts per year. In total, 64% of the patients reported side effects and 13% needed one or more extra laboratory measurement. This led to 40 additional outpatient consultations by the ID specialist because of complications of treatment and a switch of the antimicrobial agent in 31% of the patients. Conclusions. OMAT seems to improve the early signalling of complications regarding treatment, which is likely to improve compliance. The OMAT-team serves as a easy to access team to discuss any problem regarding antimicrobial therapy. Being proactive, the OMAT-team intervenes in an early stage of problems regarding side effects, logistics of the treatment and possible treatment failure. Future analysis of our data will show to what extend this will lead to prevention of re-hospitalization and improvement of success rate

Aim. The B.A.C.H. system is a new classification for long bone osteomyelitis. It uses the four key inter-disciplinary components of osteomyelitis, namely, bone involvement, anti-microbial options, soft tissue status and host status. This study aims to assess the inter-user reliability of using the B.A.C.H. classification system. Method. We identified 20 patients who had a diagnosis of long bone osteomyelitis using a previously validated composite protocol. For each patient, osteomyelitis history, past-medical history, clinical imaging (including radiology report), photographs of the affected limb and microbiology were presented to clinical observers on an online form. Thirty observers, varying in clinical experience (training grades and consultants, with a variety of exposure to osteomyelitis) and specialty (orthopaedic surgery, infectious diseases and plastic surgery) were asked to rate the twenty cases of osteomyelitis. Before rating, an explanation of how to use the classification system was given to the observers, in a structured ‘user key’. The responses were assessed by accuracy against a reference value and Fleiss' kappa value (Fκ). Results. The 30 users individually classified all 20 cases. The observers comprised 14 orthopaedic surgeons, 13 physicians (either microbiology, infectious diseases or anesthetists) and 3 plastic surgeons. The users had a variety of exposure to osteomyelitis ranging from less than one case per month to greater than one case per week. The accuracy across all variables was 86.2% (95% CI 83.9% – 88.6%, SD 6.2%), with the ‘C’ variable scoring the highest at 92.5% (95% CI 88.5% – 95.6%, SD 8.2%) and the ‘B’ variable scoring the lowest at 77.0% (95% CI 71.2% – 82.8%, SD 15.5%). The variable with the highest agreement between users was the anti-microbial options with a Fκ of 0.815 (95% CI 0.811 – 0.819) which correlated to an ‘almost perfect agreement’. Despite this, the classification of the more complex isolates proved problematic. The most variability was seen in the bone involvement variable with an Fκ of 0.479 (95% CI 0.475 – 0.483) which correlated to a ‘fair agreement’. Conclusions. The B.A.C.H. classification system for long bone osteomyelitis demonstrated a substantial agreement between observers according to the Fκ value. This was supported by a high level of accuracy of classification within each of the variables. The bone involvement category had a moderate agreement amongst users. This could be due to the nature of the 2-D presentation of cases within the online form. The Fκ was not influenced by clinical experience or clinical specialty, suggesting that B.A.C.H. is applicable by all levels. Further work is required to assess and optimise the descriptions of the bone involvement and anti-microbial options variables

Aim. Our hospital is a referral center for Bone and Joint Infection (BJI) with a 15-bed orthopedic unit. Patients benefit from a multidisciplinary team management (surgeons, anesthetists, infectious disease physicians, microbiologists, dietician etc.). Computerized drug prescriptions are performed by anesthetists, surgical residents, surgeons and infectious disease physicians. Since 2015, a pharmacist has been included in ward rounds and in weekly multidisciplinary consultative meetings, where antibiotic treatment strategies are decided for hospitalized patients. This work aimed to assess the impact of a pharmacist in this unit to limit prescription errors. Method. Prospective monocentric study of all pharmacist's advice or interventions during 15 weeks in 2016 and 2017. A complete pharmaceutical analysis of prescriptions is performed twice a week at least. This analysis is based on doses control and drug interactions, but also takes into account biological and clinical data of patients (patient history, renal function, symptoms, adverse effects…). In case of a prescription error, a computerized message and/or a phone call is sent to the prescriber. Each pharmacist's intervention is recorded and classified according to the French Society of Clinical Pharmacy. The pharmacist collected the number of pharmaceutical advice (when spontaneously solicited by any member of the multidisciplinary team), the different types of prescription errors, the pharmacological class associated to these errors, the types of pharmacist's interventions and their impact on prescriptions. Results. During ward rounds, 24 pharmaceutical advices were asked spontaneously by physicians about drug treatment optimization, predominantly about preparation and administration of injectable antibiotics or about doses adaptation. Regarding medication problems detected by the pharmacist, there were 145 prescription errors: inappropriate dose (38/145), too long-duration treatment (24/145), drug omission (18/145), drug overlap (13/145), inappropriate route (13/145), drug interaction (10/145), non-adherence to guidelines (15/145), omission of specific monitoring (4/145), other (10/145). The main pharmacist's interventions were drug discontinuations (53/145, 37%) and dose adjustments (37/145, 26%). In this specific BJI unit, 67/145 (46%) pharmacist's interventions were related to antibiotic drugs, 29/145 (20%) to drugs for digestive disorders and 16/145 (11%) to cardiovascular drugs. Most of pharmacist's interventions were accepted by prescribers (123/145, 85%), with immediate correction of prescriptions. Conclusions. Most prescription errors concerned doses and durations of treatments. Antibiotic prescriptions were often susceptible to errors. The involvement of a pharmacist in this bone and joint infection unit allows a better medication safety

Periprosthetic joint infections (PJI) continue to be a diagnostic challenge for orthopedic surgeons. Chronic PJI are sometimes difficult to diagnose and occasionally present in a subclinical fashion with normal CRP/ESR and/or normal joint aspiration. Some institutions advocate for routine use of intraoperative culture swabs at the time of all revision surgeries to definitively rule out infection. The purpose of this study is to determine whether routine intraoperative cultures is an appropriate and cost effective method of diagnosing subclinical chronic PJI in revision joint replacement patients with a low clinical suspicion for infection. We performed a retrospective chart review and identified 33 patients that underwent revision hip or knee replacement from a single surgeon over a five-month period. The AAOS guidelines for preoperative PJI workup were followed. 13 patients were diagnosed preoperatively with infection and excluded from the study. 20 patients underwent revision joint replacement and three separate cultures swabs were taken for each patient to help in determining true-positive cultures. Infectious Disease was consulted for all patients with any positive culture. Culture results were reviewed. At our hospital, the cost billed to insurance for a single culture is $1,458.58. We did not calculate the cost of the consultant fee. Three (15%) of the 20 revision arthroplasty patients had a single positive culture. Infectious Disease consultants diagnosed all three of these positive cultures as contaminants. None of the patients had a true-positive intraoperative culture. The total cost billed by the hospital to obtain these cultures in all 20 patients was $87,514.80. In our study, obtaining a set of three intraoperative cultures for those patients with a negative preoperative infection workup was not only cost prohibitive but did not diagnose a single subclinical infection. Studies to find other more reliable, accurate, and cost effective alternatives to diagnose PJI are warranted. In patients undergoing revision hip or knee arthroplasty with a low preoperative clinical suspicion for infection, it does not seem that routine intraoperative culture swabs are necessary or cost effective method for diagnosing subclinical periprosthetic joint infection

Aim. Calcaneal osteomyelitis is an uncommon and challenging condition. In this systemic review we aim to analyse the concomitant use of bone debridement and soft tissue management for patients diagnosed with calcaneal osteomyelitis. Method. A complete computerised and comprehensive literature search of Pubmed and Cochrane database was undertaken from January 2000 to October 2018. During the review, studies were screened for information about the surgical and antimicrobial treatment, the complications, the reinfection rate and the functional outcome of patients with calcaneal osteomyelitis. Results. Of the 20 studies included, seven (35%) described bone treatment only, six (30%) soft tissue treatment only, five (25%) soft tissue and bone treatment, and two (10%) focused on prognostic factors and differences in outcomes between diabetic and non-diabetic patients. In the studies with bone treatment only, infection recurrence ranged from 0 to 35% and the amputation rate from 0 to 29%. If soft tissue coverage was also needed, both the reinfection rate and amputation rate ranged from 0 to 24%. Studies presenting the functional status showed preservation or even improvement of the preoperative ambulatory status. Conclusions. Calcaneal osteomyelitis is difficult to treat. A multidisciplinary approach involving orthopaedic surgeons, plastic surgeons and infectious disease physicians is necessary for treatment success. Based on the localisation and size of the bone and soft tissue defect, decision for surgical treatment should be made

Aims. Current antibiotic treatment strategies for prosthetic joint infection (PJI) are based mostly on observational retrospective studies. High-quality data from prospective cohorts using identical treatment strategies may improve current clinical practice. We developed a regional network of collaborating hospitals and established a uniform treatment protocol. Data from all patients diagnosed with a PJI are prospectively registered in a an online database. With this quality registry we aim to study the outcome of antibiotic and surgical strategies while adhering to a pre-established treatment protocol. Methods. A working group of orthopaedic surgeons, infectious disease specialists and microbiologists was established. The working group reached consensus on definition of PJI and a uniform treatment protocol, based on current guidelines and expert-based clinical experience. A website was built to communicate information to colleagues and patients (. www.protheseinfectie.nl. ). In each participating hospital weekly multidisciplinary meetings were started to discuss all PJI cases. All patients are included in an online quality registry and followed for at least two years. We aim to enroll >600 patients with a knee or hip PJI. Research will focus on the duration of antibiotic treatment, antibiotic suppressive therapy and comparison of different oral antibiotic treatment strategies in relation to successful treatment outcomes. Results. Currently, four regional hospitals are included in the partnership. Multidisciplinary meetings have lowered the threshold to discuss patients, and the adherence to the PJI treatment protocol has improved steadily. Complicated cases are discussed between colleagues from collaborating centers. The collaboration has been perceived as very successful by the participating hospitals. Since 2015, over 300 patients have been included, of whom 52% were male. In 26%, PJI occurred after revision surgery. Staphylococcus aureus was involved in 25% of cases, coagulase-negative Staphylococci in 23%, Streptococci in 13% and Gram-negative micro-organisms in 15%. Conclusions. In this project, collaboration between different medical specialties through multidisciplinary meetings was the key to the improvement of patient care The regional collaborative project led to the implementation of a uniform treatment protocol for PJI. With this prospective project we aim to improve patient care by providing evidence for optimal antibiotic and surgical strategies for PJI. Ideally, countries should have hospital networks and a uniform method of data collection to make it easy to share data for scientific research

Aim. Over the past three years, roughly 100,000 hip and knee replacements have been performed by the Brazilian Public Healthcare System. Prosthetic joint infection (PJI) is expected to range between 1% to 10% after primary and revisions joint arthroplasties, respectively. So far, there have been no published national PJI data which would be helpful at developing local preventive strategies and guide surgeons and clinicians. We aimed at describing the epidemiological, clinical and microbiological PJI results of a national and collaboration study among infectious diseases specialists and orthopaedic surgeons, including academic, public and private institutions. Method. We prospectively enrolled patients with PJI in a national cohort study among 12 hospitals from 6 different States to describe host, pathogens, diagnosis, surgery strategies adopted (according to the standard hospital-based guideline) and outcome after 1- and 2-years follow-up. PJI was defined using the IDSA criteria (Osmon D, et al. Clin Infect Dis. 2013). Patients were enrolled from July 2013 to December 2015. Results. Overall, 234 patients undergoing hip, knee and shoulder (n=3) arthroplasty were eligible; 35 were excluded: did not fulfil the inclusion criteria (n=14), withdrawal informed consent (n=11) and early lost to follow-up (n=10). A total of 199 were available for analysis. Twenty-two (11%) patients died during the follow-up, most of which (95%) occurred within 1 year of PJI diagnosis. In the one-year (12 patients lost to follow-up) and two-year (18 patients lost to follow-up) post-diagnosis analysis, overall treatment failure occurred in 13.3% (n=22/166), and 17% (n=25/147). Knee and hip rate failure in the 1- and 2-year follow up were 12.2% (n=9/74), 15.4% (n=14/91), and 16.2% (n=11/68), 18.2% (n=14/77), respectively. Debridement with implant retention (DAIR), one-stage exchange, two-stage exchange, and arthrodesis was performed in 44.7%, 25.4%, 22.3%, 7.6% respectively. Failure rates for DAIR, one-stage exchange, two-stage exchange, and arthrodesis after 1- and 2-year follow-up were 24.2% (n=16/66), 4.3% (n=2/46), 9.8% (4/41), 0% (n=0/15), and 28.6% (n=16/56), 4.8% (n=2/42), 15.8% (n=6/38), 0% (n=0/15), respectively. Microbial diagnosis yielded positive culture in 71.7%. Staphylococcus aureus (34%), coagulase-negative staphylococci (28%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (17%) were more prevalent. Polymicrobial PJI were diagnosed in 32.8%. Conclusions. This is so far the largest Brazilian cohort of patients with PJI showing an overall 2-years failure-free survival rate of 83%, in which DAIR is the most frequent and less successful strategy, single-stage exchange seems to be a growing surgical option. Polymicrobial and non-fermenting Gram-negative bacilli and Enterobacteriacae is frequent

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a newly described infectious disease caused by the SARS coronavirus which attacks the immune system and pulmonary epithelium. It is treated with regular high doses of corticosteroids. Our aim was to determine the relationship between the dosage of steroids and the number and distribution of osteonecrotic lesions in patients treated with steroids during the SARS epidemic in Beijing, China in 2003. We identified 114 patients for inclusion in the study. Of these, 43 with osteonecrosis received a significantly higher cumulative and peak methylprednisolone-equivalent dose than 71 patients with no osteonecrosis identified by MRI. We confirmed that the number of osteonecrotic lesions was directly related to the dosage of steroids and that a very high dose, a peak dose of more than 200 mg or a cumulative methylprednisolone-equivalent dose of more than 4000 mg, is a significant risk factor for multifocal osteonecrosis with both epiphyseal and diaphyseal lesions. Patients with diaphyseal osteonecrosis received a significantly higher cumulative methylprednisolone-equivalent dose than those with epiphyseal osteonecrosis. Multifocal osteonecrosis should be suspected if a patient is diagnosed with osteonecrosis in the shaft of a long bone

Aim. The aim of our study was to identify pathogens involved in septic knee arthritis after ACLR and to describe clinical features, treatment and outcome of infected patients. Methods. We conducted a retrospective observational study including all patients with ACLR infection in 3 orthopedic centers sharing the same infectious disease specialists. Results. During a seven-year period (2011–2017) we identified 74 infected patients among 9858 patients who had ACLR (incidence rate = 0.0075). Fourteen patients had polymicrobial infection. We identified 89 pathogens. Twenty four patients (34.4 %) were infected with S. aureus (27% of all isolates)(only one oxacillin-resistant strain). C. acnes was the second most frequent pathogen, identified in 14 patients (18.9%) (15.7% of all isolates). S. lugdunensis was identified in 9 patients (12.2%) (10.1% of all isolates). S. caprae was as frequent as S. epidermidis identified in 8 patients each (10.8%) (9 % of all isolates for each). No strain of S. lugdunensis and S. caprae was resistant to oxacillin, levofloxacin or rifampicin. Ten patients infected by C. acnes, 8 infected by S. lugdunensis, and 7 infected by S. caprae had an early acute infection. In all cases but one an arthroscopic lavage was performed, in 14 cases two lavages were required and in 4, 3 lavages. All patients infected by a strain susceptible to levofloxacin and rifampicin, including those with C. acnes, S. caprae and S. lugdunensis infection, were treated with an oral combination of levofloxacin and rifampicin, after a couple of days of IV empirical treatment with vancomycin and a broad spectrum beta-lactam. The median duration of treatment was 6 weeks. Seventy one patients were considered cured. Conclusions. To our knowledge this is the largest reported series of infection after ACLR. S. aureus is the main pathogen (27% of all strains). C. acnes, S. lugdunensis and S. caprae accounted for almost 35% of pathogens and 38% of infections. A conservative strategy consisting in arthroscopic lavage(s) and a 6-week treatment with levofloxacin and rifampicin was effective

Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) is a major complication affecting >1% of all total knee arthroplasties, with compromise in patient function and high rates of morbidity and mortality. There are also major socioeconomic implications. Diagnosis is based on a combination of clinical features, laboratory tests (including serum and articular samples) and diagnostic imaging. Once confirmed, prompt management is required to prevent propagation of the infection and further local damage. Non-operative measures include patient resuscitation, systemic antibiotics, and wound management, but operative intervention is usually required. Definitive surgical management requires open irrigation and debridement of the operative site, with or without exchange arthroplasty in either a single or two-stage approach. In all options, the patient's fitness, comorbidities and willingness for further surgery should be considered, and full intended benefits and complications openly discussed. Late infection almost invariably leads to implant removal but early infections and acute haematogenous infections can be managed with implant retention – the challenge is to retain the original implant, having eradicated infection and restored full function. Debridement with component retention: Open debridement is indicated for acute postoperative infections or acute haematogenous infections with previously well-functioning joints. To proceed with this management option the following criteria must be met: short duration of symptoms - ideally less than 2–3 weeks but up to 6; well-fixed and well-positioned prostheses; healthy surrounding soft tissues. Open debridement is therefore not an appropriate course of management if symptoms have been prolonged – greater than 6 weeks, if there is a poor soft tissue envelope and scarring, or if a revision arthroplasty would be more appropriate due to loosening or malposition of the implant. It is well documented in the literature that there is an inverse relationship between the duration of symptoms and the success of a debridement. It is thought that as the duration of symptoms increases, other factors such as patient comorbidities, soft tissue status and organism virulence play an increasingly important role in determining the outcome. There is a caveat. Based on our learning in the hip, when we see an acute infection where periprosthetic implants are used, it is much easier to use this time-limited opportunity to remove the implants and the associated biofilm and do a single-stage revision instead of just doing a debridement and a change of insert. This will clearly be experience and prosthesis-dependent but if the cementless implant is easy to remove, then it should be explanted. One critical aspect of this procedure is to use one set of instruments and drapes for the debridement and to then implant the new mobile parts and close using fresh drapes and clean instruments. Units that have gained expertise in single-stage revision will find this easier to do. After a debridement, irrigation, and change of insert, patients continue on intravenous antibiotics until appropriate cultures are available. Our multidisciplinary team and infectious disease experts then take over and will dictate antibiotic therapy thereafter. This is typically continued for a minimum of three months. Patients are monitored clinically, serologically, and particularly in relation to nutritional markers and general wellbeing. Antibiotics are stopped when the patients reach a stable level and are well in themselves. All patients are advised to re-present if they have an increase in pain or they feel unwell

Aim. A number of orthopaedic strategies have been described for limb salvage following periprosethic joint infection (PJI). However, this is often only possible with concomitant soft tissue reconstruction in the form of flap coverage. The purpose of this study was to determine the long-term clinical outcome of patients who underwent pedicled gastrocnemius flap coverage as part of their treatment for knee PJI. Method. We performed a retrospective review of all patients undergoing gastrocnemius muscle transfer with split thickness skin grafting as part of their treatment for knee PJI at a tertiary referral centre between 1994 and 2015. Data recorded included patient characteristics, orthopaedic procedure, microbiology result and antimicrobial management. Outcome measures included flap failure, infection recurrence, amputation, functional outcome (Oxford knee score; OKS) and mortality. Results. In total, 115 consecutive patients (39% female) with a mean age of 74.4 years (range 44–100) were followed up for an average of 5.5 years (range 119 days – 19.7 years). There were no reported cases of flap failure. Gastrocnemius flaps were most commonly performed at the time of the first stage of a two-stage revision (41%), or during debridement and implant retention (DAIR) (27%). 10% were performed at the second stage of a two-stage procedure and 4% were performed during a single stage revision. Of 96 positive deep specimen cultures, 43 (45%) showed mixed growth and 47 (49%) grew coagulase-negative staphylococcus (with or without other microorganisms). The infection recurrence rate was 32%. Limb salvage was achieved in 88% of cases. 12% of patients required life-long suppressive antibiotic therapy. 55 knees were followed up for five years or more, with a survival (not deceased, not amputated) of 64%. 37 knees were followed up for 10 years or more, with a survival of 32%. In living patients who did not have an amputation, the mean OKS was 25.8 (n=36; range 7–47). Conclusion. This study represents the largest series to date of infected knee prostheses treated with gastrocnemius flap coverage. A multidisciplinary approach to complex PJI surgery is recommended, involving infectious disease physicians and the orthoplastic team. We also recommend a low threshold for requesting plastic surgery input. In our experience, this technique is safe, with no flap failure, and has enabled limb salvage for the majority (88%) of patients with infected knee prostheses and insufficient soft tissue envelope

Aims. We have reviewed the published classifications of long-bone osteomyelitis. This review demonstrated the limitations and poor recognition of existing classifications. We have designed a new system which includes four easily identifiable variables which are Bone involvement, Antimicrobial availability, Soft tissue coverage and Host status. This is called the B.A.C.H. classification system. In this study, we aim to retrospectively validate this classification in a cohort of osteomyelitis cases. Methods. We identified 100 patients who had received surgery for osteomyelitis between 2013–2015 in a single specialist centre. Each patient was classified retrospectively by two assessors who were not involved in the initial patient care. Osteomyelitis was confirmed in each patient by a validated composite protocol. Results. All patients in this series could be classified using each of the B.A.C.H. variables. Seventy-four patients were categorised as B1, 13 as B2 and 13 as B3. Thirty-four patients revealed no growth of microorganisms (Ax). Fifty-four were A1, 11 A2 and one patient was classified as A3. For rare organisms (e.g. Corynebacterium spp.), classification required specialised infectious disease knowledge. Twenty-four patients needed soft tissue procedures (C2) and 76 had their wound closed primarily (C1). Twenty patients did not need optimisation prior to surgery and were deemed as H1. The remaining 80 patients needed optimisation prior to surgery and were deemed as H2. Conclusions. All patients were classifiable when using the B.A.C.H. system. This system offers a simple method of stratifying long-bone osteomyelitis and may give an indication of severity and the need for specialist intervention. However, there were difficulties in classification of rare causative organisms. This validation has been performed in a single specialist centre for osteomyelitis and requires both internal prospective and external validation to evaluate its reproducibility

Aim. Alpha-defensin is a new synovial fluid biomarker for the diagnosis of periprosthetic joint infections (PJI). We compared the performance of two different alpha-defensin assays: quantitative ELISA test and qualitative lateral flow test. Method. In this prospective cohort study, consecutive patients with a painful prosthesis of the lower limb were eligible for inclusion. In addition to standard diagnostics of PJI, alpha-defensin was determined in the aspirated synovial fluid between October 2016 and April 2017. PJI was defined according to the modified Zimmerli criteria, the Musculoskeletal Infection Society (MSIS) criteria and the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) criteria. A positive quantitative alpha-defensin test was defined at a cut-off value of 5.2 mg/L. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and area under the curve of each test were determined and the AUCs were compared among each other. Results. We included 72 patients (55 knee, 27 hip prosthesis) with a median age of 70 years (range: 41 – 85 years). Based on the modified Zimmerli criteria, 23 cases (32%) were categorized as septic and 49 (68%) as aseptic prosthesis failure. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and AUC of quantitative alpha-Defensin were 48%, 98%, 82%, and 0.73, respectively; for qualitative alpha-Defensin, results were 48%, 100%, 83%, and 0.74, respectively. When the IDSA criteria were applied, the sensitivity of the quantitative and qualitative alpha-defensin test was 83% and 75%, respectively; when the MSIS criteria were applied, the sensitivity of the quantitative and qualitative alpha-Defensin was 92% and 83%, respectively. The comparison between the qualitative and quantitative alpha-defensin tests showed no statistically significant difference regardless of the used infection classification (modified Zimmerli: [difference AUC −0.01; p = 0.792], IDSA: [difference AUC 0.04; p = 0.317], MSIS: [difference AUC 0.04; p = 0.264]). Conclusions. The sensitivity of the alpha-defensin test in synovial fluid showed poor sensitivity (48%) for diagnosing PJI when modified Zimmerli criteria were used. No difference were observed between the qualitative and quantitative alpha-defensin test