Success of Debridement and Implant Retention in Periprosthetic Joint Infection – Does the Surgeon Matter?

OBJECTIVE: Prosthetic joint infection (PJI) is a devastating complication following total joint arthroplasty (TJA). In acute haematogenous and early post-operative PJI, debridement and implant retention (DAIR) surgery is often the initial treatment and success rates vary. This study aimed to identify factors affecting success rates of DAIR and in particular whether involvement of a lower limb arthroplasty surgeon can affect outcome. METHOD: This retrospective review included one hundred and sixty-two patients undergoing DAIR for first-episode PJI following hip and knee arthroplasty at one of three tertiary hospitals. Treatment success was defined as no relapse within two years of DAIR. Data on patient, hospital, and surgical factors were identified including duration of symptoms, time from primary, previous revisions, age of prosthesis, bacterial subtype, whether modular component exchange was performed and whether an arthroplasty surgeon performed the procedure. Adjusted multivariate analysis was performed to identify factors associated with success of the DAIR procedure. RESULTS: Overall success rate of DAIR in both hip and knee arthroplasty was 60%. A specialist arthroplasty surgeon was present in 42% of cases. Arthroplasty surgeons performed modular exchange in 51% of cases compared to 32.5% for other surgeons. Inclusion of modular exchange in the procedure was the only factor associated with DAIR success (OR 3.1, p<0.013). Time to theatre of less than 24 hours (OR 0.59), duration of symptoms less than one week (OR 1.28), age of prosthesis less than 3 months (OR 1.47) and having an arthroplasty surgeon perform DAIR (OR 1.6) did not lead to statistically significant improvements in success rate. CONCLUSIONS: Modular exchange was associated with a significantly higher success rate for both hip and knee PJI, suggesting thorough debridement is important in DAIR. Arthroplasty surgeons were more likely to perform modular exchange, but their presence in theatre alone did not reduce the risk of failure.