Objectives Management of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) after total knee arthroplasty
(TKA) is a challenging task. Surgical management is guided by a consensus. Antibiotic
managament remains elusive due to differences in epidemiology and resistances between
countries and reports. Our aims were to investigate the main causative bacteria and
evaluate the effectiveness of our antibiotic regime with vancomycin for PJI after
TKA treated in our center. We also compared our antibiotic regime in PJI to other
empirical regimes from the literature.
Methods A retrospective review of all revision TKAs between 2006 and 2018 in a tertiary referral
center was performed. Included were cases meeting the consensus criteria for PJI.
Excluded were cases without positive cultures. All patients were empirically treated
with vancomycin and rifampicin, and a two-stage procedure with at least 6 weeks between
procedures.
Results and Conclusion Out of 824 revision TKA procedures performed, there were 129 PJI with 161 culture
identified bacteria. Coagulase-negative Staphylococci (CNS) were diagnosed in 46.6%
cultures, followed by Staphylococcus aureus in 19.8% of cultures. Overall antibiotic
resistance (p =0.454) and Staphylooccus aureus resistance (p =0.788) have not increased
during the study period. CNS resistance to teicoplanin (4% to 44%; p < 0.001), fosfomycin
(16% to 44%, p =0.016) and tetracycline (0% to 28%, p =0.014) has increased. Vancomycin
had a 84.4% overall sensitivity and 100% CNS sensitivity and was the most effective
agent, also when compared to other combinations from the literature. In a high incidence
of PJI with CNS after TKA, the only remaining treatment option is vancomycin. The
increasing resistance to newer antibiotics is concerning. This study suggests that
large centers should perform a detailed analysis of obtained cultures as this has
significant implications for both prophylactic treatment in primary as well as empirical
antibiotic treatment in PJI.
Stichwörter knee replacement, infection, revision, vancomycin