Prevalence of modifiable surgical site infection risk factors in hip and knee joint arthroplasty patients at an urban academic hospital

Abstract

Surgical site infections after hip and knee arthroplasty can be devastating if they lead to periprosthetic joint infection. We examined the prevalence of the modifiable risk factors for surgical site infection described by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery Patient Safety Committee. Our study of 300 cases revealed that only 20% of all cases and 7% of revision cases for infection had no modifiable risk factors. The most common risk factors were obesity (46%), anemia (29%), malnutrition (26%), and diabetes (20%). Cases with obesity or diabetes were associated with all histories of remote orthopedic infection, 89% of urinary tract infections, and 72% of anemia cases. The high prevalence of several modifiable risk factors demonstrates that there are multiple opportunities for perioperative optimization of such comorbidities.

Keywords: epidemiology; hip arthroplasty; infection; knee arthroplasty; risk factors.