Information is required about treatment outcomes of Gram-negative prosthetic joint infections treated with prosthesis retention and
surgical debridement, especially where biofilm-active antibiotics such as fluoroquinolones are used. The outcome of 17 consecutive
patients with an early Gram-negative prosthetic joint infection who had been treated with prosthesis retention and surgical debridement
was analysed. Enterobacteriaceae were isolated in 16 patients and infections were mixed with other organisms in 13 (76%) patients.
The median joint age was 17 days and the median duration of symptoms before debridement was 7 days. All patients initially received
intravenous b-lactam antibiotic therapy and 14 patients were then treated with oral ciprofloxacin. Treatment failure occurred in two
patients over a median period of follow-up of 28 months. In only one patient was a relapsed Gram-negative infection responsible for
the failure and this patient had not been treated with ciprofloxacin. The 2-year survival rate free of treatment failure was 94% (95% CI,
63–99%). Prosthesis retention with surgical debridement, in combination with antibiotic regimens including ciprofloxacin, was effective
and should be considered for patients with early Gram-negative prosthetic joint infection.
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.