Infection After Total Hip Replacement

Infection after primary total hip arthroplasty the number of primary total hip arthroplasties thas performed in the united states each year continues to climb as does the incidence of infectious complications.

Infection after total hip replacement.

Symptoms of hip replacement infection symptoms may include a fever and pus or clear liquid oozing from the wound. Joint replacement infections are a very dangerous surgical complications after knee and hip replacement. Infections are caused by viruses or bacteria. Joint replacement infections can even occur years after your surgery.

Joint replacement infections may occur in the wound or deep around the artificial implants. In these cases bacteria can adhere to the implant itself which makes the infection difficult to treat. Though our most recent review of infection data at the university of utah center for hip and knee reconstruction showed an infection rate better than the national average at 0 5 percent as of 2013. There is an estimated 0 5 to 1 risk of an infection following a hip replacement.

A small percentage of patients undergoing hip or knee replacement roughly about 1 in 100 may develop an infection after the operation. It occurs in one to three percent of patients nationally. Any type of infection in other areas of the body can also lead to the infection of the hip or knee replacements. The changing profile of antibiotic resistant bacteria has made preventing and treating primary tha infections increasingly complex.

No surgical procedure is without risks however. Although bacteria are abundant on our skin and the gastrointestinal tract the immune system works hard and generally keeps the harmful bacteria in check.