Intraoperative intra-articular injection of gentamicin: will it decrease the risk of infection in total shoulder arthroplasty?

BACKGROUND: Deep infection is a debilitating complication after shoulder arthroplasty. Intra-articular injection of antibiotic can give a higher concentration compared with intravenous administration. We hypothesized that a group of patients given an intra-articular, intraoperative injection of gentamicin would report a lower infection rate than a group without local antibiotics. METHODS: Between 2005 and 2011, the senior author performed 507 shoulder arthroplasties. We retrospectively reviewed all of those cases. All patients were administered systemic prophylactic antibiotics. Beginning in June 2007, patients were also injected with 160 mg of gentamicin in the glenohumeral joint at the end of their surgery. Patient records were examined for preexisting medical conditions, type of surgery, and presence of infection. Patients receiving surgery before 2007 were compared with those after to determine the effect of prophylactic gentamicin administration in preventing deep infection associated with surgery. All patients were observed for a minimum of 1 year. RESULTS: Of the 507 surgeries, 164 were performed before 2007 (without intra-articular injection of gentamicin; group A) and 343 were performed with addition of gentamicin (group B). In group A, 5 patients presented with infection (3.0%) compared with 1 in group B (0.29%). The gender, mean age, mean body mass index, and prevalence of comorbidities were similar between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: The data from this study support the conclusion that intra-articular intraoperative gentamicin administration may reduce postoperative infection.

Intramedullary nailing versus locked plate for treating supracondylar periprosthetic femur fractures.

The objective of this study was to compare retrograde intramedullary femoral nailing with supracondylar locked screw-plate fixation for the treatment of periprosthetic femur fractures following total knee arthroplasty. Time to union and full weight bearing were the primary study outcomes, with perioperative blood loss, need for transfusion, need for revision surgery, and infection being the secondary outcomes. A retrospective review of 63 patients who sustained Rorabeck Type II periprosthetic femoral fractures was undertaken. Patients were pooled from 3 academic institutions between 2001 and 2009. Patients eligible for the study were identified from the electronic medical record using an IDX query of International Classification of Diseases 9 and Current Procedural Terminology codes for fixation of femur fracture with intramedullary implant or plate and screws. In the series, 35 patients were treated with intramedullary femoral nailing and 28 with a locked screw-plate. The 2 groups were compared for radiographic union at 6, 12, 24, and 36 weeks. At 36 weeks, radiographic union was significantly greater in the locked screw-plate group. Time to full weight bearing was not significantly different. A greater perioperative transfusion rate was observed in the locking plate group, but it also had an overall lower rate of reoperation, for any reason, compared with the intramedullary femoral nailing group. The results support the use of a laterally based locked plate in the treatment of Rorabeck type II distal femur periprosthetic fractures.

Should We Use Preoperative Epoetin-α in the Mildly Anemic Patient Undergoing Simultaneous Total Knee Arthroplasty?

Simultaneous knee arthroplasty is associated with significant blood loss. To prevent transfusion, three preoperative doses of epoetin-α were offered to mildly anemic simultaneous knee arthroplasty patients. A retrospective review, using ICD-9 codes, identified twenty patients from 2007-2009. Epoetin-α increased hemoglobin levels preoperatively (12.6 to 13.9, p<0.01). Twenty patients who did not receive epoetin-α were matched to study patients. Study patients were transfused less (55% vs 95%, p=0.012) and had similar inpatient length of stay. The average blood loss without transfusion was 4.6g/dL. The mildly anemic patient is at high-risk for packed red cell transfusion during simultaneous knee arthroplasty. Three preoperative doses of epoetin-α in the mildly anemic patient decreased total transfusions; however, it did not affect inpatient length of stay.

Periprosthetic joint infection: are patients with multiple prosthetic joints at risk?

Patients who present with a periprosthetic joint infection in a single joint may have multiple prosthetic joints. The risk of these patients developing a subsequent infection in another prosthetic joint is unknown. Our purposes were (1) to identify the risk of developing a subsequent infection in another prosthetic joint and (2) to describe the time span and organism profile to the second prosthetic infection. We retrospectively identified 55 patients with periprosthetic joint infection who had another prosthetic joint in place at the time of presentation. Of the 55 patients, 11 (20%) developed a periprosthetic joint infection in a second joint. The type of organism was the same as the first infection in 4 (36%) of 11 patients. The time to developing a second infection averaged 2.0 years (range, 0-6.9 years).

Total joint arthroplasty in patients with hepatitis C.

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C is present worldwide. Little is known about the outcome of joint arthroplasty in asymptomatic patients with hepatitis C. We evaluated the surgical complications following hip and knee arthroplasty in patients who were seropositive for hepatitis C in a matched study. METHODS: Seventy-one patients with hepatitis C underwent forty total hip arthroplasties and thirty-two total knee arthroplasties from 1995 to 2006. The patients had normal preoperative liver function tests. Patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection, hepatitis B, and hemophilia were excluded. A control group was matched in a 2:1 ratio with the hepatitis-C group for age, body-mass index, sex, year of surgery, and medical comorbidities, including diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and immunosuppressive conditions. RESULTS: In the group of patients with hepatitis C who were managed with total hip arthroplasty, six patients (15%) had wound complications requiring oral antibiotics or wound irrigation and debridement and four hips (10%) had mechanical complications, including implant loosening or dislocation. In the control group, three patients (3.8%) had wound complications requiring oral antibiotics or irrigation and debridement and three patients (3.8%) had mechanical complications, including dislocation, periprosthetic femoral fracture, and implant failure. In the group of patients with hepatitis C who underwent total knee arthroplasty, three patients (9.4%) had mechanical complications, including loosening and periprosthetic fracture requiring revision. In the control group, three patients (4.7%) had wound complications, one (1.6%) had a deep infection requiring two-stage revision, and one (1.6%) underwent revision because of a mechanical problem. The combined hepatitis-C group had significantly longer hospital stays and higher rates of surgical and mechanical complications, reoperation, and revision. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with hepatitis C undergoing joint arthroplasty had a higher rate of surgical complications and a longer hospital stay. The reason for the higher rate of complications in this group of patients is unknown, and further investigation is needed. Patients with hepatitis C should be counseled about the potential for a higher incidence of postoperative complications prior to undergoing joint arthroplasty.

Aseptic loosening of total hip arthroplasty: infection always should be ruled out.

BACKGROUND: It is believed that some cases of aseptic failure of THA may be attributable to occult infections. However, it is unclear whether preoperative erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) are more likely elevated in these patients than those without overt infection. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: We asked whether some patients with aseptic THA failures have abnormal serologic indicators of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) at the time of revision, namely ESR and/or CRP. METHODS: Three hundred twenty-three revision THAs for aseptic loosening from 2004 to 2007 were retrospectively evaluated. We categorized all cases into two groups: (1) those with overt PJI (n = 14) plus patients who had a positive intraoperative culture during the index revision (n = 13) and (2) those who did not require rerevision (n = 276) or required surgery for noninfected causes (n = 20). Mean and frequency of abnormal ESR and CRP were compared between the two groups. The minimum followup was 11 months (average, 35 months; range, 11-54 months). RESULTS: The mean and frequency of abnormal CRP in first group (n = 27) at 2.1 mg/dL and 48% respectively, were greater than those of the uninfected (n = 296) at 1.2 mg/dL and 27%, respectively. However, there were no differences between two groups regarding mean or frequency of abnormal ESR. CONCLUSION: Some patients with presumed aseptic loosening may have abnormal serologic indicators of PJI that either have escaped diagnosis or were not adequately investigated. All patients undergoing revision THA should have ESR and CRP measured preoperatively and those with abnormal CRP should have additional evaluations to rule out or confirm PJI.

Tibial shaft stress fractures resulting from placement of navigation tracker pins.

The use of navigation during joint arthroplasty is believed to allow better placement of components. Gross fracture or stress fracture through navigation tracker pin placement is a complication reported in the literature. This case series presents details of stress fracture of tibial shaft through navigation pin track in 3 patients of 220 cases who underwent total knee arthroplasty at our institution. All the fractures eventually healed after a course of protected weight bearing. As a result, we use smaller-diameter self-tapping and self-drilling pins routinely and avoid placement of pins in the diaphysis and ensure that pins are inserted in different plains during insertion into metaphysis.

Renal impairment following total joint arthroplasty: who is at risk?

Postoperative renal impairment is a serious complication of major surgeries that leads to increased morbidity and mortality. The objective of our study was to identify the risk factors for renal impairment following total joint arthroplasty. Among 17 938 total joint arthroplasties performed between 2000 and 2007, patients developing renal complications were identified. For performing univariate and multivariate analyses, patients with renal impairment were matched in a 1:2 ratio with control group who did not develop renal impairment. Ninety-eight (0.55%) patients developed either acute renal failure or acute renal injury. We identified the following as independent risk factors: elevated body mass index; elevated preoperative serum creatinine; and history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, liver disease, congestive heart failure, hypertension, and underlying heart disease. Renal impairment was significantly associated with increased duration of hospital stay and with in-hospital and 1-year all-cause mortality. In high-risk patients, preoperative optimization might be considered in an attempt to reduce the incidence of such a complication.

Revision hip arthroplasty: infection is the most common cause of failure.

BACKGROUND: Revision total hip arthroplasty (THA), although relieving pain and restoring function, fails in some patients. In contrast to failures in primary THA, the frequency of the causes of failure in revision THA has been less well established. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: We therefore determined the rate of each failure mode and the survivorship of revision THAs. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the charts of 1366 revision THAs performed between 2000 and 2007. There were 609 (44.5%) men and 757 (55.5%) women with a mean age of 66 years. The indications for the revision surgery were mainly aseptic loosening (51%), instability (15%), wear (14%), and infection (8%). The minimum followup was 1 day (mean, 5.5 years; range, 1 day to 9 years). RESULTS: Two hundred fifty-six of the revisions (18.7%) failed with an average time to failure of 16.6 months (range, 1 day to 7.5 years). Among 256 failed hips, infection was the most common cause of failure (30.2%) followed by instability (25.1%) and aseptic loosening (19.4%). At 5 years, the survivorships of septic and aseptic groups were 67% and 84.8%, respectively. Revision for infection or instability appears to have a considerably lower survivorship when compared to revision for aseptic causes. CONCLUSIONS: The lower survivorship of revision for infection or instability highlights the importance of implementing better preventative methods that can minimize the impact of these two major causes of failure. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III, therapeutic study. See the Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Do tantalum and titanium cups show similar results in revision hip arthroplasty?

UNLABELLED: Porous surfaces are intended to enhance osteointegration of cementless implants. Tantalum has been introduced in an effort to enhance osseointegration potential of uncemented components. We therefore compared the clinical outcome of acetabular components with two different porous surfaces. We retrospectively reviewed 283 patients (295 hips) who underwent cementless revision hip arthroplasty with either an HA-coated titanium cup (207 patients, 214 hips) or porous tantalum cup (79 patients, 81 hips). The minimum followup was 24 months in both groups (titanium: average 51.8 months, range, 24-98 months; tantalum: average, 35.4 months, range, 24-63 months). The titanium and tantalum groups had a mechanical failure rate (clinical plus radiographic) of 8% and 6%, respectively. In hips with minor bone deficiency (type 1, 2A, 2B using the classification of Paprosky et al.), 6% of titanium cups and 4% of tantalum cups failed. In hips with major bone deficiency (type 2C, 3), 24% of titanium cups and 12% of tantalum cups developed failure. In the major bone deficiency group, the tantalum cups had fewer numbers of lucent zones around the cup. Eighty-two percent of titanium cups that failed did so at 6 months postoperatively or later, whereas 80% of tantalum cups that failed did so in less than 6 months. Radiographically in the major group, tantalum cups yielded better fixation. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III, retrospective comparative study. See the Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.