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Optimal treatment of infected prosthetic joints involves removal of the infected prostheses and targeted antibiotic therapy. But what if the patient refuses or is for other reasons not a candidate for surgery? This study suggests that a prolonged course of oral antibiotics, designed to suppress rather than cure the infection, may be an option.
Investigators retrospectively reviewed the charts of 18 patients with infected orthopedic prostheses (12 knee, 6 hip) who received prolonged antibiotic therapy (4 to 103 months; mean, 49) following surgical debridement only. Only 3 patients experienced treatment failure, occurring 4 to 13 months into treatment. Nearly half were infected with Staphylococcus aureus. Four patients stopped treatment after …