Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery - British Volume, Vol 71-B, Issue 5, 851-855
Copyright © 1989 by British Editorial Society of Bone and Joint Surgery
Deep infection of cemented total hip arthroplasties caused by coagulase-negative staphylococci
PG Hope,
KG Kristinsson,
P Norman,
and
RA Elson
Northern General Hospital, Sheffield, England.
We reviewed a series of 91 patients with deep infection of a cemented total hip arthroplasty caused by coagulase-negative staphylococci (C-NS). Of these, 72 were treated by one-stage exchange arthroplasty with a failure rate of 13% due to recurrence of infection. The other 19 patients have started or completed treatment by a two-stage exchange without failure to date. In 27 of the 91 patients multiple strains of C-NS were discovered, many being resistant to previously used antibiotics. The use of gentamicin-containing cement in the primary arthroplasty was significantly associated with the emergence of gentamicin-resistant C-NS in subsequent deep infection. Bacteriological diagnosis of such infections must take into consideration the possibility that multiple strains of the organism are involved.
