title: Characterization of hip and knee arthroplasties and factors associated with infection.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To characterize arthroplasty procedures, calculate the surgical infection rate and identify related risk factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a retrospective cohort study. Data on operations performed between 2010 and 2012 were gathered from documental sources and were analyzed with the aid of statistical software, using Fisher's exact test, Student's t test and the nonparametric Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon tests.
  
  
  RESULTS
  421 total arthroplasty procedures performed on 346 patients were analyzed, of which 208 were on the knee and 213 on the hip. It was found that 18 patients (4.3%) were infected. Among these, 15 (83.33%) were reoperated and 2 (15.74%) died. The prevalence of infection in primary total hip arthroplasty procedures was 3%; in primary total knee arthroplasty, 6.14%; and in revision of total knee arthroplasty, 3.45%. Staphylococcus aureus was prevalent. The length of the surgical procedure showed a tendency toward being a risk factor (p = 0.067).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of infection in cases of primary total knee arthroplasty was greater than in other cases. No statistically significant risk factors for infection were identified.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Cibele Zdebsky
authors.initials: CZ
authors.lastname: da Silva Pinto
authors.affiliation: Nursing Post-graduate Program, Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Francine Taporosky
authors.initials: FT
authors.lastname: Alpendre
authors.affiliation: Hospital Infection Control Service, Hospital de Clínicas, Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Christiane Johnscher Niebel
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Stier
authors.affiliation: Nursing Post-graduate Program, Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Eliane Cristina Sanches
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Maziero
authors.affiliation: Hip and Knee Surgery Service, Hospital de Clínicas, Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Paulo Gilberto Cimbalista
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: de Alencar
authors.affiliation: Nursing Post-graduate Program, Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Elaine Drehmer
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: de Almeida Cruz
keywords: Arthroplasty; Epidemiology; Hospital infection; Intraoperative care; Patient safety