Background. Deep wound infection (DWI) in total knee (TKA) and total hip (THA) arthroplasty has been shown to highly correlate with superficial surgical site infection (SSSI). Although several studies have reported hospital factors that predispose to SSSI, patient factors have not been clearly elucidated. Methods. All patients undergoing TKA (n = 1181) and THA (n = 1124) surgery during the period 1977–1995 at our institution were observed at the end of a 30‐day post‐operative period. Thirty‐three patients that developed SSSI during this period constituted the study group. The control group was composed of 64 matched subjects that did not develop SSSI. A chart review was applied to abstract DWI cases during the first 18 post‐operative months for the study group and for an average of 6.7 years for the control group (range 5–18.2 years). Potential risk factors for SSSI were used as predictors of SSSI in a logistic regression analysis. Results. During the 18‐month observation period 19 out of the 33 study subjects (58%) developed DWI. No DWI was registered in the control group (the difference was significant, p < 0.0001). Of the nine pre‐operative, five intra‐operative, and five post‐operative factors examined, only hematoma formation (odds ratio = 11.8; p = 0.001) and days of post‐operative drainage (odds ratio = 1.32; p = 0.01) were significant predictors of SSSI. The cases consumed more health care resources at all stages of the medical process. Conclusions. Our results (1) confirm the strong correlation between the probability of developing DWI and SSSI: (2) indicate that hematoma formation and persistent post‐operative drainage increase the risk of SSSI. We hypothesize that post‐operative monitoring of patients for hematoma and persistent drainage enables earlier intervention that may lower the risk of developing SSSI and subsequent DWI. © 2002 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

I&D for PPI is frequently used in the early postoperative period to control infection. While it is assumed early intervention will lead to control of infection in most cases, our data contradict this assumption.

Background Open débridement with polyethylene liner exchange (ODPE) remains a relatively low morbidity option in acute infection of total knee arthroplasty (TKA), but concerns regarding control of infection exist. We sought to identify factors that would predict control of infection after ODPE. Methods We identified 44 patients (44 knees) with culture-positive periprosthetic infection who underwent ODPE. Failure was defined as any reoperation performed for control of infection or the need for lifetime antibiotic suppression. Patients had been followed prospectively for a minimum of 1 year (mean, 5 years; range, 1-9 years). Results Twenty-five of the 44 patients (57%) failed ODPE. Of these 25 patients, two had one additional procedure, 21 had more than one additional procedure, and two required lifetime antibiotic suppression. Failure rates tended to differ based on primary organism: 71% of Staphylococcus aureus periprosthetic infection failed versus 29% of Staphylococcus epidermidis, although with the limited numbers theses differences were not significant. Age, gender, or measures of comorbidity did not influence the risk of failure. There was no difference in failure rate (58% versus 50%) when the ODPE was performed greater than 4 weeks after index TKA. After a failed ODPE, 19 of the 25 failures went on to an attempted two-stage revision procedure. In only 11 of these 19 cases was the two-stage revision ultimately successful.

In brief Professional golfers' injuries are usually related to their swings. A wide variety of acute and chronic injuries have been reported, including carpal fractures, ulnar and median nerve neuropathies, tendinitis, skin rashes, and eye injuries. There have been two deaths. In this study questionnaires were mailed to 500 professional golfers, and 226 were returned. During their careers 103 men and 87 women were injured, an average of two injuries per player. The left wrist, lower back, and left hand were most commonly injured. Repetitive practice swings caused the most injuries in both men and women.

Background Prolonged operative time may increase the risk of infection after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Both surgeon-related and patient-related factors can contribute to increased operative times. Questions/purposes The purpose of this study was to determine (1) whether increased operative time is an independent risk factor for revision resulting from infection after TKA; (2) whether increasing body mass index (BMI) increased operative time; and (3) whether increasing experience substantially decreased operative time. Methods We retrospectively evaluated primary TKAs from our joint registry between March 2000 and August 2012. Cox proportional hazard models were used to assess the relationship between operative time and revision resulting from infection after accounting for age, sex, BMI, and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality comorbidity score. Of 9973 instances of primary TKA, 73 underwent revision surgery for infection (0.73%). Results After accounting for the confounders of age and sex, operative time was not found to have a significant effect; a 15-minute increase in operative time increased the hazard of revision resulting from infection by only 15.6% (p = 0.053; 95% confidence interval, 0.0%-34.0%). In addition, a five-unit increase in BMI was found to increase mean operative time by 1.9 minutes, on average, regardless of sex (p \ 0.0001). Operative time decreases with increasing experience but appears to plateau at approximately 300 surgeries. Conclusions Operative time is only one of many factors that may increase infection risk and may be influenced by numerous confounders. Increasing BMI increased operative time but the effect was modest. The effect of increasing experience on operative duration of this common procedure was surprisingly limited among our surgeons. Level of Evidence Level III, therapeutic study. See Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.