Summary

The use of cement with colistin and erythromycin as prevention if primary TKA do not reduce infection at a long-term

Abstract

Aim

One of the most severe complications of primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is periprosthetic joint infection (PJI). Nowadays, the use of antibiotic-loaded cement for prevention of infection is still controversial. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the use of an antibiotic-loaded cement to reduce the infection rate in primary total knee arthroplasty.

Method

Prospective randomized study, with 2893 cemented total knee arthroplasties performed between 2005 and 2010 in our institution. Two different groups were formed depending on which bone cement was used, without antibiotic (the control group) or loaded with erythromycin and colistin (the study group). All patients received the same systemic prophylactic antibiotics. The patients were followed for a minimum of twelve months. The rate of infection was analyzed according to the criteria of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Results

In 1452 patients the prosthetic components were fixed using bone cement without antibiotic and in 1441 patients bone cement loaded with erythromycin and colistin was used. There were no differences between both groups in terms of demographic data (age, sex and BMI), either in operating time (p>0,05). The rate of infection was similar in both groups, being 2,0% (n=29) in the control group and 1,7% in the study group (p=0,58) at 8,7 years (SD 5,1) of follow up. In terms of prosthetic revision due to any cause (infected or aseptic), there wasn’t differences between groups, performing a total of 61 revision arthroplasties in control group and 68 in study
group (p>0,05). Moreover, we analyzed the erythromycin resistance rate, being no differences between both groups (p=0.6).

Conclusions

The use of erythromycin and colistin-loaded bone cement in total knee arthroplasty did not lead to a decrease in the rate of infection when systemic prophylactic antibiotics were used, a finding that suggests that its use would not be indicated in the general population.