This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

Infection risk from hip fracture higher than from degenerative hip disease

Add topic to email alerts

Receive an email when new articles are posted on

Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on .

Subscribe

Added to email alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

Back to Healio

We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com.

Back to Healio

Patients with hip fracture were more likely to have postoperative infection than patients with degenerative hip disease, according a study presented at the 15th EFORT Congress — a combined program in partnership with the British Orthopaedic Association.

Piotr Kasina, MD, and colleagues performed a large cohort study including 3,807 patients who underwent hip replacements at the Stockholm South General Hospital from 1996 to 2005.

After reviewing individual patient records to determine treatment strategies, microbiological cultures and final outcome in each registered prosthetic joint infection (PJI), Kasina and colleagues identified 62 PJIs, with 18 found in patients operated for a degenerative hip disorder, 24 in patients operated with primary fracture prosthesis and 28 in patients operated with secondary fracture prosthesis.

“Prosthetic joint infections were found most often in the group with secondary fracture prosthesis, namely in 2.8% of cases. That would include, for example, cases where internal fixation had failed. A somewhat lower incidence of 2.1% occurred in patients who had received a primary prosthesis due to bone fracture,” Kasina said in an EFORT press release. “There were significantly few cases of infection, however, in people who underwent surgery due to degenerative disorder. Infection resulted in only 0.8% of the latter group.”

Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative taphylococci were more commonly found in patients with hip fractures, whereas patients with degenerative hip disorder had more polybacterial infections, according to study results.

Treating postoperative infections is often difficult, with a cure rate of only 40%, according to Kasina, who said that only 42% of structural infection could be cured through permanent resection arthroplasty. In an additional 10%, life-long antibiotic therapy was needed, and 8% of patients died as a result.

“Adequate prophylactic measures are necessary, especially against S. aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci, the most decisive factors in infection amount fracture patients,” Kasina said in the press release.

Reference:

Kasina P. Abstract #2948. Presented at: 15th EFORT Congress: a combined programme in partnership with BOA; June 4-6, 2014; London.

Source info:

Piotr Kasina, MD, can be reached at Karolinska Institutet, Solnavägen 1, 171 77 Solna, Stockholm, Sweden.

Disclosure:

Kasina has no relevant financial disclosures.