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Two-stage Exchange Arthroplasty in Periprosthetic Joint Infection

Does it have a high success rate?

Publish date:: October 5, 2015

Many patients undergoing the first stage of a two-stage arthroplasty do not undergo a subsequent reimplantation for a variety of reasons or require an additional spacer exchange in the interim, according to a study of 504 patients with periprosthetic joint infection of the knee or hip treated with resection arthroplasty and spacer insertion. Researchers found:

• Reimplantation occurred in 82.7% of cases.

• Mean duration from resection arthroplasty to reimplantation was 4.2 months.

• 11.9% of joints required interim spacer exchange.

• Among cases that did not undergo reimplantation, 6.9% required amputation, 5.7% underwent a Girdlestone procedure, 4.6% underwent arthrodesis, and 82.8% underwent spacer retention.

• 36 patients died in the interspace period.

Citation: Gomez MM, Tan TL, Manrique J, Deirmengian GK, Parvizi J. The fate of spacers in the treatment of periprosthetic joint infection. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2015 Sep 16;97(18):1495-1502. doi: 10.2106/JBJS.N.00958.

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