Prosthetic joints are at risk of acute and chronic infection, which can cause sepsis, morbidity, or mortality. Patients often have a history of a recent fall. Symptoms include joint pain, swelling, and limited motion. Diagnosis is based on various criteria. Treatment is prolonged antibiotic therapy and usually arthrotomy.
Etiology of Prosthetic Joint Infectious Arthritis
Infections are more common in prosthetic joints than in natural joints. They are frequently caused by perioperative inoculations of bacteria into the joint or by postoperative bacteremia resulting from skin infection, pneumonia, dental procedures, invasive instrumentation, urinary tract infection, or possibly falls.
Joint infections develop within 1 year of surgery in two thirds of cases. During the first few months after surgery, the causes are Staphylococcus aureus in about 50% of cases, mixed flora in 35%, gram-negative organisms in 10%, and anaerobes in 5%. Cutibacterium acnes is especially common in infected prosthetic shoulder joints and may require prolonged culture (up to 2 weeks) to detect. Candida species infect prosthetic joints in < 5% of cases.
Symptoms and Signs of Prosthetic Joint Infectious Arthritis
In patients with prosthetic joint infectious arthritis, there is a history of a fall within 2 weeks of symptom onset in about 25% of patients and of prior surgical revisions in about 20%.
Some patients have had a postoperative wound infection that appeared to resolve, satisfactory postoperative recovery for many months, and then development of persistent joint pain at rest and during weight bearing.
Symptoms and signs of prosthetic joint infectious arthritis may include pain, swelling, and limited motion; temperature may be normal.
Diagnosis of Prosthetic Joint Infectious Arthritis
Clinical, microbiologic, pathologic, and imaging criteria
The diagnosis of infection in a prosthetic joint often requires a combination of clinical, microbiologic, pathologic, and imaging criteria. Communication between a sinus tract and the prosthesis may also be considered diagnostic of infection.
Synovial fluid should be sampled for cell count and culture. X-rays may show loosening of the prosthesis or periosteal reaction but are not diagnostic. Technetium-99m bone scanning and indium-labeled white blood cell scanning are more sensitive than plain x-rays but lack specificity in the immediate postoperative period. Ultimately, periprosthetic tissue collected at the time of surgery may be sent for culture and histologic analysis.
Treatment of Prosthetic Joint Infectious Arthritis
Arthrotomy with debridement
Long-term systemic antibiotic therapy
Treatment of prosthetic joint infection must be prolonged and usually involves arthrotomy for prosthesis removal with meticulous debridement of all cement, abscesses, and devitalized tissues. Debridement is followed by immediate prosthesis revision or placement of an antibiotic-impregnated spacer and then delayed (2 to 4 months) implantation of a new prosthesis using antibiotic-impregnated cement.
The overall rate of infection-free success at 5 years after combined medical and surgical treatment is 56%.
If patients cannot tolerate surgery, long-term antibiotic therapy alone can be tried. Excision arthroplasty with or without fusion usually is reserved for patients with uncontrolled infection and insufficient bone stock.
Prevention of Prosthetic Joint Infectious Arthritis
In the absence of other indications (eg, valvular heart disease), whether patients with prosthetic joints need prophylactic antibiotics before procedures such as dental work and urologic instrumentation is currently unresolved. See Appropriate Use Criteria from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) for the prevention of orthopedic implant infection in patients undergoing dental procedures.
At many centers, patients are screened for S. aureus
More Information
The following English-language resources may be useful. Please note that THE MANUAL is not responsible for the content of these resources.
The Prevention of Orthopaedic Implant Infection in Patients Undergoing Dental Procedures: Evidence-based clinical practice guideline from the AAOS and ADA
Diagnosis and Management of Prosthetic Joint Infection (PJI): Clinical Practice Guidelines by the Infectious Diseases Society of America: Includes evidence-based and opinion-based recommendations for the diagnosis and management of patients with PJI treated with debridement and retention of the prosthesis, resection arthroplasty with or without subsequent stage reimplantation, 1-stage reimplantation, and amputation
