Prosthetic joint infection: managing infection in a bionic era

Abstract

There is increasing demand for prosthetic joint surgery and patients are becoming more challenging due to an ageing population often with comorbidities and immunosuppression. While prosthetic joint infection (PJI) rates are generally low, infection can be catastrophic for the patient and hence prevention of infection is critical. Infection, when it does occur, is further complicated by the global rise in antimicrobial resistance. This article introduces a series of papers on the epidemiology of PJI, its diagnosis, use of novel inflammatory markers and molecular techniques, clinical presentation, importance of biofilms, treatment guidelines and, finally, various strategies and novel antibiotic treatment regimens.

Keywords: antibiotics; infection rates; septic arthritis; surgical infection.