retention. Patients were excluded if the infected prosthesis
was a megaprosthesis for bone tumour surgery or if the primary
surgical treatment was prosthesis removal. During the
study period, a protocol existed where ‘early’ Gram-negative
PJI (3 months from implantation) was
treated with retention of the prosthesis and surgical debridement
by arthrotomy. The subsequent antibiotic regimen consisted
of an initial period of intravenous b-lactam antibiotic
followed by a course of oral ciprofloxacin. The treating clinician
had the authority to vary from the treatment protocol
with regard to the number of surgical debridement procedures
and the duration of intravenous and oral antibiotics,
depending on the clinical situation. The exact reasons for
variation from the protocol were not always available from
the medical record.