The DAIR (debridement, antibiotics and implant retention) procedure for infected total knee replacement – a literature review

Prosthetic joint infection (PJI) is a devastating complication in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and third most common cause of revision of TKA with significant morbidity and surgical challenges. Treatment options include non-operative measures with long term antibiotic suppression, debridement and implant retention (DAIR), one- or two-stage revision arthroplasty, arthrodesis and amputation. Implant retention without infection is ideal and DAIR has been reported to have variable success rates depending on patient factors, duration of infection, infecting micro-organisms, choice of procedure, single or multiple debridement procedures, arthroscopic or open, antibiotic choice and duration of antibiotic use. We present a thorough literature review of DAIR for infected TKA. The important factors contributing to failure are presence of sinus, immunocompromised patient, delay between onset of infection and debridement procedure, Staphylococcal infection in particular Meticillin Resistant Staphylococcal aureus, multiple debridement procedures, retention of exchangeable components and short antibiotic duration. In conclusion DAIR can be successful procedure to eradicate infection in TKA in selective patients with factors contributing to failure taken into account.