Purpose Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in patients with osteoarthritis (OA) are considered to be a successful procedure, but with little being known about outcomes in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The aim of this study was to compare the outcomes of TKA in patients with RA versus OA. Methods Data were obtained from PubMed, Cochrane Library, EBSCO and Scopus for all available studies comparing the outcomes of THA in RA and OA patients (From January 1, 2000 to October 15, 2022). Outcomes of interest included infection, revision, venous thromboembolism (VTE), mortality, periprosthetic fractures, prosthetic loosening, length of stay, and satisfaction. Two reviewers independently assessed each study for quality and extracted data. The quality of the studies was scored using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale (NOS). Results Twenty-four articles with a total 8,033,554 patients were included in this review. The results found strong evidence for increased risk of overall infection (OR = 1.61, 95% CI, 1.24–2.07; P = 0.0003), deep infection (OR = 2.06, 95% CI, 1.37–3.09; P = 0.0005), VTE (OR = 0.76, 95% CI, 0.61–0.93; P = 0.008), pulmonary embolism (PE) (OR = 0.84, 95% CI, 0.78–0.90; P<0.00001), periprosthetic fractures (OR = 1.87, 95% CI, 1.60–2.17; P<0.00001); and reasonable evidence for increased risk of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) (OR = 0.74, 95% CI, 0.54–0.99; P = 0.05), and length of stay (OR = 0.07, 95% CI, 0.01–0.14; P = 0.03) after TKA in patients with RA versus OA. There were no significant differences in superficial site infection (OR = 0.84,95% CI, 0.47–1.52; P = 0.57), revision (OR = 1.33,95% CI, 0.79–2.23; P = 0.28), mortality (OR = 1.16,95% CI, 0.87–1.55; P = 0.32), and prosthetic loosening (OR = 1.75, 95% CI, 0.56–5.48; P = 0.34) between the groups. Conclusion Our study demonstrated that patients with RA have a higher risk of postoperative infection, VTE, periprosthetic fracture, and lengths of stay, but did not increase revision rate, prosthetic loosening and mortality compared to patients with OA following TKA. In conclusion, despite RA increased incidence of postoperative complications, TKA should continue to be presented as an effective surgical procedure for patients whose conditions are intractable to conservative and medical management of RA.

Purpose The aim of this study was to compare the clinical outcomes of culture-negative periprosthetic joint infection (CN PJI) with those of culture-positive periprosthetic joint infection (CP PJI). Methods Data were obtained from Embase, Web of Science and EBSCO for all available studies comparing the clinical outcomes of CN PJI with those of CP PJI. The quality of the studies was scored using the Newcastle–Ottawa scale (NOS). Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess clinical outcomes. Subgroup analyses were performed to explain heterogeneity among the included studies. Publication bias was estimated using Begg’s funnel plot. Sensitivity analysis was performed to test the stability of pooled results. Results Thirty studies with 1630 (38.7%) CN PJI and 2577 (61.3%) CP PJI were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled results of the included studies showed that overall failure rate in CN PJI group (19.0%, 309/1630) was significantly lower than that in CP PJI group (23.4%, 604/2577) (OR 0.63, 95% CI 0.47–0.84, P = 0.002). We performed the subgroup analysis based on the surgical strategies, the pooled results of nine studies for patients undergoing debridement, antibiotics and implant retention (DAIR) revealed that failure rate in CN PJI group (22.2%, 53/239) was significantly lower than that in CP PJI group (29.3%, 227/775) (OR 0.62, 95% CI 0.43–0.90, P = 0.01), the pooled results of four studies for patients undergoing one-stage revision revealed that failure rate between CN PJI group (11.5%, 11/96) and CP PJI group (7.6%, 27/355) had no significant difference (OR 1.57, 95% CI 0.75–3.26, P = 0.23), and the pooled results of 19 studies for patients undergoing two-stage revision revealed that failure rate in CN PJI group (16.1%, 171/1062) was significantly lower than that in CP PJI group (20.4%, 206/1010) (OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.34–0.79, P = 0.002). Conclusions CN PJI group had similar or better survival rate when compared with CP PJI group for patients who underwent DAIR, one-stage or two-stage revision. Negative culture was not a worse prognostic factor for PJI.

BACKGROUND Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) is a catastrophic complication that can occur following total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Currently, the treatment for PJI mainly includes the use of antibiotics alone, prosthetic debridement lavage, primary revision, secondary revision, joint fusion, amputation, etc. AIM To explore the clinical effect of two-stage revision surgery for the treatment of PJI after TKA. METHODS The clinical data of 27 patients (3 males and 24 females; age range, 47–80 years; mean age, 66.7 ± 8.0 years; 27 knees) with PJI treated with two-stage revision surgery in our hospital between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2020 were analyzed retrospectively. The following outcomes were compared for changes between preoperative and last follow-up results: Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), visual analogue scale (VAS) scores, Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) scores, knee range of motion (ROM), and infection cure rates. RESULTS All 27 patients were followed up (range, 13–112 mo). The ESR (14.5 ± 6.3 mm/h) and CRP (0.6 ± 0.4 mg/dL) of the patients at the last follow-up were significantly lower than those at admission; the difference was statistically significant ( P < 0.001). The postoperative VAS score (1.1 ± 0.7), HSS score (82.3 ± 7.1), and knee ROM (108.0° ± 19.7°) were significantly improved compared with those before the surgery; the difference was statistically significant ( P < 0.001). Of the 27 patients, 26 were cured of the infection, whereas 1 case had an infection recurrence; the infection control rate was 96.3%. CONCLUSION Two-stage revision surgery can effectively relieve pain, control infection, and retain good joint function in the treatment of PJI after TKA.