title: Infected total knee arthroplasty. A protocol for management.
abstract: All cases of deep wound infection following total knee arthroplasty presented to the senior author between April 1977 and February 1984 were reviewed in an attempt to develop a protocol for salvaging a functional, painless knee. Two of 23 knees were eliminated because of extensive soft tissue loss. The remaining 21 infected total knee arthroplasties were analyzed. A determination of the chronicity of the infection and an evaluation of any radiolucencies were essential in determining the type of treatment used. Three distinct methods of surgical management were identified: radical debridement with retention of the initial prosthesis, one-stage reimplantation, and two-stage reimplantation. A functional uninfected total knee arthroplasty was salvaged in 18 of 21 patients, with an average follow-up period of 46 months.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000601:surgery*; D003646:Debridement; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007720:Knee Prosthesis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000601:surgery*; D011379:Prognosis; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D012008:Recurrence; D012086:Reoperation; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000601:surgery*