Infection following total knee arthroplasty: early and late

We present retrospective analysis of the prevalence of infection following primary total knee arthroplasty. Three thousand forty-eight total knee arthroplasties performed between 1976 and 1996 were analyzed. Twenty-four knees (0.80%) had superficial infection while 4 (0.13%) knees had deep infection within six weeks. Of these knees, late infection (more than 1year) occurred in 4 knees (3.8%). Based on our study, the risk of superficial infection is 1 in 127 knees, the risk of early deep infection is 1 in 762 knees within 90 days of surgery, and the risk of late deep infection is 1 in 263 knees following primary total knee arthroplasty.