Aim

Prosthetic joint infection (PJI) due to Candida spp. is a severe complication of arthroplasty but is little reported. This study describes Candida PJI epidemiology, management, and outcome.

Aim

Tedizolid is an oxazolidinone antibiotic that: (i) is recommended at the dose of 200 once daily in patients with skin and soft tissue infection; (ii) seems to have a better long-term hematological and neurological safety profile in comparison with linezolid; (iii) remains active on multidrug-resistant (MDR) Gram-positive pathogens. Consequently, it might represent an option as suppressive antimicrobial treatment (SAT) in patients with complex implant-associated bone and joint infection (BJI) due to MDR Gram-positive pathogens.

Aim

Cutibacterium acnes, a skin commensal, is responsible for 5–10% of prosthetic joint infections (PJI). All current microbiological definitions of PJI require two or more identical commensal isolates to be recovered from the same procedure to diagnose PJI and rule out contamination. Unlike coagulase negative staphylococci, C.acnes shows a highly stereotypical susceptibility profile making impossible to phenotypically assess the clonal relationship of isolates. In order to determine the clonal relationship of multiple C.acnes isolates recovered from arthroplasty revisions, we analyzed by multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) C.acnes isolates grown from orthopedic device-related infections (ODRI) in a reference center for bone and joint infection.

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.

Purpose of the study: Proximal replantation is a technically feasible but life-threatening procedure. Indications must be restricted to patients in good condition with a good functional prognosis. The goal of replantation must be focused not only on reimplanting the amputated limb but also on achieving a good functional outcome. For the lower limb, simple terminalization remains the best choice in many cases. When a proximal amputation is not suitable for replantation, the main aim of the surgical procedure must be to reconstruct a stump long enough to permit fitting a prosthesis preserving the function of the adjacent joint. If the proximal stump beyond the last joint is very short, it may be possible to restore some length by partial replantation of spared tissues from the amputated part. We present here the results we obtained following this policy.

Materials and methods: This series included 16 cases of partial replantations, 14 involving the lower limb and 2 the upper limb. All were osteocutaneous microsurgical transfers. For the lower limb, all transfers recovered protective sensitivity following tibial nerve repair. The functional calcaeoplantar unit was used in 13 cases. The transfer of this specialized weight bearing tissue provided a stable distal surface making higher support unnecessary. In one case, we raised a 13-cm vascularized tibial segment covered with foot skin for additional length. For the upper limb, the osteocutaneous transfer, based on the radial artery, was not reinnervated, but this lack of sensitivity did not impair prosthesis fitting.

Results: One vascular failure was finally amputated. This was the only unsuccessful result. For all other patients, the surgical procedure facilitated prosthesis fitting and preserved the proximal joint function despite an initially very proximal amputation.

Discussion: The advantages of partial replantation are obvious compared with simple terminalization or secondary reconstruction. There is no secondary donor site and, because there is no major muscle mass in the distal fragment, the overall risk is very low compared with the risk of total proximal leg replantation.