A nonsurgical protocol for management of postarthroplasty wound drainage

Persistent wound drainage after total joint arthroplasty can potentiate periprosthetic joint infection. Although current recommendations are to treat persistent wound drainage with surgical debridement, we believe nonoperative treatment may be successful in selected patients. We performed a retrospective analysis of 25 persistently draining hip and knee arthroplasty wounds treated with a protocol consisting of a combination of surgical site aspiration, closure of open wound edges, cessation of anticoagulants, activity modification, and antibiotics (in select patients). Wound drainage ceased in 24 of 25 wounds treated with this protocol. One patient who continued to drain for 3 more days was successfully treated with surgical debridement and evacuation of hematoma. No patient developed infection. We believe this protocol can be successful in many arthroplasty patients.