Postoperative fever in arthroplasty patients is common. The value of diagnostic workup of fever in this instance is of questionable utility. Studies have shown that blood cultures in this scenario add little to clinical management, but sample sizes have been small and the use of blood cultures in this setting continues. This study aimed to examine the value of blood cultures in the assessment of postoperative fever in a large arthroplasty population. The medical records of 101 patients who had 141 blood culture sets taken during a 2-year period were retrospectively analyzed. Of the 141 blood culture sets, only 2 returned positive results. These were both thought to be as a result of skin contamination at the time of venipuncture. No infectious sequelae occurred in either patient. We conclude that blood cultures have no role to play in the assessment of the febrile, otherwise asymptomatic arthroplasty patient in the early postoperative period.

purpose. To evaluate the utility of blood cultures in the assessment of early postoperative fever in hip fracture patients with no other indicators of sepsis. Methods. 101 blood cultures were drawn on postoperative days 0 to 5 to investigate 84 febrile episodes in 31 women and 30 men (mean age, 80 years) whose body temperature measured via the tympanic route was ≥38ºC. Culture results of these 61 patients were divided into culture-positive and culture-negative groups for comparison. results. Of the 101 blood cultures, only 2 were positive: one was obtained 5 days after dynamic hip screw fixation, and the other 4 days after hemiarthroplasty. Both blood cultures grew coagulase-negative staphylococcal species, which were deemed to be skin contaminants not requiring change of patient management. 44 of these patients were treated with oral or intravenous antibiotics for a period of time. conclusion. The risk of bacteraemia in patientsBlood cultures for evaluation of early postoperative fever after femoral neck fracture surgery 2012;20(3):336-40 with postoperative fever but no other symptoms of infection is low. Routine procurement of blood cultures in such patients is ineffective and of limited utility.

Space suits cause increased PER and MER compared with standard surgical clothing. This finding provides mechanistic evidence to support the increased prosthetic joint infection rates observed in clinical studies.

Antimicrobial resistance has been problematic since the advent of antibiotics. Patients with prosthetic joint infections often require prolonged courses of antibiotic therapy, with resistance commonly being the consequence. The rapid evolution of resistance poses a serious challenge in the treatment of infections and creates a need for new agents with novel mechanisms of bactericidal activity. Daptomycin, a cyclic lipopeptide naturally produced by Streptomyces roseosporus, is a newer agent approved for use in complicated skin, soft tissue, and prosthetic joint infections. To our knowledge, this article describes the first case of daptomycin-resistant heterogenous vancomycin intermediate-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (hVISA) in an 82-year-old man undergoing elective total knee arthroplasty in Queensland, Australia, with a subsequent deep prosthetic joint infection.A literature review is presented, and the increasing number of multi-resistant organisms and their implications for orthopedics are discussed. Worldwide reports of hVISA are reviewed. To our knowledge, this is the first article to describe daptomycin resistance in prosthetic joint infections. The role of newer antimicrobial agents, such as daptomycin, and strategies to minimize antibiotic resistance are examined.

In well functioning primary unilateral total hip arthroplasty using the Exeter V40 stem with a variety of acetabular components one year post surgery, whole blood chromium levels are normal and serum cobalt elevations are rare and mild.