Intraoperative Contamination Influences Wound Discharge and Periprosthetic Infection

Intraoperative bacterial contamination increases risk for postoperative wound-healing problems and periprosthetic infection, but to what extent remains unclear. We asked whether bacterial contamination of the instruments and bone during primary prosthesis insertion was associated with prolonged wound discharge and subsequent periprosthetic infection. During 100 total hip arthroplasties, four intraoperative cultures were taken from the instruments and two portions of removed bone. Postoperatively, the duration of wound discharge was monitored, with Day 5 as the cut-off point. All patients were followed for 2 years to determine whether periprosthetic infection occurred. Bacterial contamination occurred in 36 operative procedures (36%). We found an association between intraoperative contamination and prolonged wound discharge, with a relative risk of 2.5. The culturing of removed bone had a positive predictive value of 81% to 90%. Other factors associated with prolonged wound discharge were rheumatoid arthritis (relative risk, 6.4), use of cement (relative risk, 1.6), and increased blood loss (relative risk, 1.5).

Level of Evidence: Level I, prognostic study (prospective cohort study). See the Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.