surgical intervention and prolonged courses of intrave- nous or oral antimicrobial therapy [1–4]. Despite a significant amount of basic and clinical research in this field, many questions pertaining to the definition of infection as well as diagnosis and management of these infections remain unanswered. The focus of these guidelines is to provide a consensus statement that addresses the diagnosis and the medical and sur- gical treatment of infections involving a prosthetic joint. In many situations, the panel has made recom- mendations based on expert opinion, realizing that the amount of data to support a specific recommendation is limited and that there are diverse practice patterns which seem to be equally effective for a given clinical problem.