The recently published
Discitis after discography is due to bacterial penetration into the intervertebral disc by a contaminated needle and has an incidence of 1% to 4%. We have examined the prophylactic role of cephazolin administered at the time of discography. An experimental study in sheep using radiographic contrast containing Staphylococcus epidermidis showed that either adding the antibiotic to the intradiscal suspension or giving it intravenously 30 minutes before intradiscal inoculation of bacteria prevented any radiographic, macroscopic or histological signs of discitis; all the intervertebral disc cultures were negative. In a prospective clinical study of 127 consecutive patients having lumbar discography, the injected contrast contained cephazolin 1 mg per ml. None of the patients developed clinical or radiographic signs of discitis. We recommend the use of a suitable broad spectrum antibiotic in a single prophylactic dose whenever the intervertebral disc is entered.
Antibiotic levels in bone and fat were measured in patients undergoing knee replacement to determine the time that should elapse between intravenous injection and tourniquet inflation. The tissue levels increased progressively with time, and there was wide variation in absorption rate between patients and between the two cephalosporins assessed. Five minutes should probably be left between systemic injection and inflation of the tourniquet, though two minutes may be long enough for drugs which are rapidly absorbed.
Aims. The duration of systemic antibiotic treatment following first-stage revision surgery for periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) after total hip arthroplasty (THA) is contentious. Our philosophy is to perform an aggressive debridement, and to use a high local concentration of targeted antibiotics in cement beads and systemic
Aims. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and impact of tourniquet use in patients undergoing limb salvage surgery with endoprosthetic reconstruction for a tumour around the knee. Methods. We retrieved data from the
A retrospective study of 44 diabetic patients who, between them, had 62 Charnley low-friction arthroplasties, showed a superficial-infection rate of 9.7 per cent and a deep-infection rate of 5.6 per cent. All the operations were carried out in the Charnley clear-air enclosure and
Aims. Demineralised bone matrix (DBM) is rarely used for the local
delivery of
We have investigated the contaminating bacteria in primary hip arthroplasty and their sensitivity to the
Aims. Prosthetic joint infection (PJI) remains a serious complication that is associated with high morbidity and costs. The aim of this study was to prepare a systematic review to examine patient-related and perioperative risk factors that can be modified in an attempt to reduce the rate of PJI. Materials and Methods. A search of PubMed and MEDLINE was conducted for articles published between January 1990 and February 2018 with a combination of search terms to identify studies that dealt with modifiable risk factors for reducing the rate of PJI. An evidence-based review was performed on 12 specific risk factors: glycaemic control, obesity, malnutrition, smoking, vitamin D levels, preoperative Staphylococcus aureus screening, the management of anti-rheumatic medication, perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis, presurgical skin preparation, the operating room environment, irrigant options, and anticoagulation. Results. Poor glycaemic control, obesity, malnutrition, and smoking are all associated with increased rates of PJI. Vitamin D replacement has been shown in preliminary animal studies to decrease rates of PJI. Preoperative Staphylococcus aureus screening and appropriate treatment results in decreased rates of PJI. Perioperative variables, such as timely and appropriate dosage of
A 66-year-old man presented with an infected resurfacing hip replacement in the immediate post-operative period following an uneventful transurethral resection of the prostate.
We investigated the antibiotic concentration in fresh-frozen femoral head allografts harvested from two groups of living donors. Ten samples were collected from patients with osteoarthritis of the hip and ten from those with a fracture of the neck of the femur scheduled for primary arthroplasty. Cefazolin (1 g) was administered as a pre-operative
Allograft bone is widely used in orthopaedic surgery, but peri-operative infection of the graft remains a common and disastrous complication. The efficacy of systemic
The routine administration of
Surgical site infection (SSI) after soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) resection is a serious complication. The purpose of this retrospective study was to investigate the risk factors for SSI after STS resection, and to develop a nomogram that allows patient-specific risk assessment. A total of 547 patients with STS who underwent tumour resection between 2005 and 2021 were divided into a development cohort and a validation cohort. In the development cohort of 402 patients, the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression model was used to screen possible risk factors of SSI. To select risk factors and construct the prediction nomogram, multivariate logistic regression was used. The predictive power of the nomogram was evaluated by receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis in the validation cohort of 145 patients.Aims
Methods
We report the results of low friction arthroplasty in 72 old tuberculous hips and 42 hips with old quiescent septic arthritis. Follow-up was for a minimum of two years. Recrudescence of tuberculosis was seen in only one patient, but deep infection occurred in four of the hips with previous septic arthritis. The reasons for this are discussed. It is recommended that patients with old tuberculous hips should have a course of anti-tuberculous drugs before operation, that patients with previous septic infection should have
We undertook a retrospective case-control study
to assess the clinical variables associated with infections in open fractures.
A total of 1492 open fractures were retrieved; these were Gustilo
and Anderson grade I in 663 (44.4%), grade II in 370 (24.8%), grade
III in 310 (20.8%) and unclassifiable in 149 (10.0%). The median
duration of prophylaxis was three days (interquartile range (IQR)
1 to 3), and the median number of surgical interventions was two
(1 to 9). We identified 54 infections (3.6%) occurring at a median
of ten days (IQR 5 to 20) after trauma. Pathogens intrinsically
resistant to the empirical antibiotic regimen used (enterococci, Enterobacter spp, Pseudomonas spp) were
documented in 35 of 49 cases (71%). In multivariable regression
analyses, grade III fractures and vascular injury or compartment
syndrome were significantly associated with infection. Overall,
compared with one day of antibiotic treatment, two to three days
(odds ratio (OR) 0.6 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.2 to 2.0)),
four to five days (OR 1.2 (95% CI 0.3 to 4.9)), or >
five days (OR
1.4 (95% CI 0.4 to 4.4)) did not show any significant differences
in the infection risk. These results were similar when multivariable
analysis was performed for grade III fractures only (OR 0.3 (95%
CI 0.1 to 3.4); OR 0.6 (95% CI 0.2 to 2.1); and OR 1.7 (95% CI 0.5
to 6.2), respectively). Infection in open fractures is related to the extent of tissue
damage but not to the duration of