title: Clinical guidelines in the management of prosthetic joint infection.
abstract: Clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis and management of prosthetic joint infection have been produced by a range of organizations. Guidelines stress the importance of multi-disciplinary working and of adopting a methodical approach. This includes careful assessment of the patient's surgical, medical and psychosocial problems, rational investigation, a decision-making framework for surgery and targeted, sometimes prolonged, use of intravenous or highly bioavailable oral antibiotics. Despite limited high-quality evidence, adoption of clinical guidelines can improve practice by reducing variation and by establishing conditions for the subsequent conduct of multicentre studies or systematic reviews.
authors.affiliation: Bone Infection Unit, Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, Oxford OX3 7HE, UK.
authors.forename: Angela M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Minassian
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Douglas R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Osmon
authors.affiliation: Bone Infection Unit, Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, Oxford OX3 7HE, UK tony.berendt@ouh.nhs.uk.
authors.forename: Anthony R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Berendt
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003646:Debridement; D006801:Humans; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D016459:Prosthesis-Related Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents
keywords: consensus; guidelines; management; multi-disciplinary