The outcome of perioperative wound infection after total hip and knee arthroplasty

Forty-one consecutive patients with primary knee arthroplasty and 37 with primary hip arthroplasty, all with perioperative wound infections, were followed for 50 (12–130) months. Staphylococci (coagulase negative and positive) accounted for 74% of wound infections. Mixed organisms accounted for 10%. Prosthetic infections developed in eight patients and aseptic loosening in three patients. All the prosthetic infections developed within 6 months of the primary surgery. Organisms responsible for superficial infections were responsible for prosthetic infection in five patients; no organisms were isolated in the remaining three patients. The presence or absence of wound dehiscence, wound haematoma, and postoperative pyrexia did not predict the development of deep sepsis; however, the presence of wound discharge was a significant risk factor.