Treatment of Infected Total Hip Arthroplasty With a 2-Stage Reimplantation Protocol: Update on “Our Institution’s” Experience From 1989 to 2003

Infection is a devastating complication of total hip arthroplasty (THA). This study aimed to determine whether 2-stage reimplantation is still effective for treating contemporary pathogens, including multidrug-resistant organisms. Records of all cases of infected THAs from 1989 to 2003 were reviewed for data on organism, presence of drug resistance, use of an antibiotic-impregnated spacer, type of reimplant, and success of treatment. Of the 87 protocol patients with 2 years of follow-up, 94.3% (82) underwent reimplantation. The original infection was eradicated in 80 of the 84 hips (78/82 patients), a success rate of 95%. All 21 multidrug-resistant infections were eradicated. There were no major differences in eradication rates when the period was split into 3 sections. These results support previous studies from our institution which demonstrated the effectiveness of a 2-stage reimplantation protocol with a standard 1:8 minimal bactericidal titer for treating infections after THA, including those due to methicillin-resistant organisms.