title: Periprosthetic joint infection--effect on quality of life.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Relatively little is known about the extent to which periprosthetic joint infections (PJI) affect the patient's long-term quality of life (QoL). Our study aim was to assess the effect of a periprosthetic infection on our patients' QoL.
  
  
  METHODS
  We collected data retrospectively of patients who had undergone surgery in our institution between 2006 and 2011. To capture their overall QoL, we telephoned the patients who could be reached and asked them the questions on the SF-12 questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In 84 patients (53 male, 31 female, 43 TKA and 41 THA), 88 % of the hip infections and 62 % of the knee infections had been successfully treated. The hip infections' cure rate was significantly higher than that of the knee joint infections. The average SF-12 score was 36.2 points on the physical scale and 52 on the mental scale. The difference in QoL between patients with and without successful infection therapy was not significant, nor did the site of the infection (knee or hip) influence QoL significantly. Comparison of our patients' QoL data to that from the general population revealed a significant difference in the physical scale but not the mental scale.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  From these results QoL is substantially reduced after a prosthetic infection. We did however observe that post-Girdelstone procedure patients or those with an arthrodesis attained an acceptable QoL, and that those methods remain therapeutic alternatives as far as patient-perceived QoL is concerned.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, University Hospital Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, peter.helwig@uniklinik-freiburg.de.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Helwig
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Morlock
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oberst
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hauschild
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hübner
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Borde
authors.forename: Norbert P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Südkamp
authors.forename: Lukas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Konstantinidis
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006622:Hip Prosthesis / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D007720:Knee Prosthesis / Q000009:adverse effects; D008297:Male; D016459:Prosthesis-Related Infections / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies