Plenary session will offer the latest on musculoskeletal infection

At the EFORT Congress2010, leaders in the field from Spain, Switzerland, Italy and Greece will explore the topic of musculoskeletal infection in depth during a plenary session on June 5.

“Attendees can expect to refresh, actualize and receive a good piece of continuous medical information about orthopaedic infection,” Jose Cordero-Ampuero, MD, PhD, a presenter and organizer of the session, told Orthopaedics Today Europe.

Hot topics that will be covered during the session include septic arthritis of the hip in children, infection in shoulder arthroplasty, advances in antibiotics and septic non-unions in the upper extremities.

Experienced presenters

Cordero-Ampuero noted that the presenters of the session were selected by executive boards from EFORT, the European Bone and Joint Infection Society and the European Pediatric Orthopaedic Society.

Konstantinos Malizos, MD, of Greece, will give a presentation regarding the use of vascularized bone grafts for septic non-unions in the upper extremity. In addition, Tomas Epeldelgui, MD, of Spain, will detail the latest findings about septic arthritis of the hip in pediatric patients. Olivier Borens, MD, of Switzerland, and Carlo-Luca Romano, MD, of Italy, will both detail a multicenter European experience regarding the management of sepsis in shoulder arthroplasty.

Advances in antibiotics

Cordero-Ampuero will provide an overview on the advances in antibiotics during the last decade. These advances include oral antibiotics, the use of a combination of antibiotics to avoid a merging of bacterial resistance, and the use of these antibiotics for resistant infections such as polymicrobial, gram-negative and methicillin-resistant germs.

His presentation will emphasize “all the advantages these new protocols have over [the] classical protocols established in the 70s and early 80s.”

All of the presentations will include information from clinical series, and the session will conclude with a discussion segment.

Cordero-Ampuero said that it is important for surgeons to learn about advances in infection.

He added, “There are two other presentations about infections in the Congress; [on] complicated infections of soft tissues and infection in ankle arthroplasties. Topics, like those depicted in the plenary session, [are] not usually discussed in congresses.”

Reference:
Cordero-Ampuero J. Musculoskeletal infections. To be presented at the 2010 EFORT Congress. June 2-5. Madrid.

Deep surgical site infection in musculoskeletal trauma or reconstructive procedures are among the most devastating complications for patients, their social environment and treating physicians. Bone and joint infections impose a significant burden due not only to higher costs of hospitalization but also from the significant indirect costs to the health care system, as well as the pain and suffering of the patients. It is generally recognized, however, that in the majority of the resident's programs in orthopaedics, there is no adequate training on this special field that requires a multidisciplinary approach.

Although upper extremity nonunions are less common compared to those of the lower extremity, they are debilitating to the patient through the impairment of hand function or that of the entire arm. Septic nonunions further complicate surgical reconstruction, mainly due to the more extensive tissue debridement required for the eradication of the infection and subsequent need of variable grafting techniques to bridge the defect. Complex bone and soft tissue defects are even more challenging with a need for regional or free tissue transfer employing microvascular techniques. The free vascularized fibular flaps provide tissue for both the osseous defect and soft tissue reconstruction.

– Konstantinos N. Malizos
Professor of Orthopaedics and Muscloskeletal Trauma
Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessalia
Larissa, Greece
European Bone & Joint Infection Society (EBJIS) Board Member