1042 ThE JOURNAL OF BONE AND JOINT SURGERY Deep Infection following Total Hip Arthroplasty*

ABSTRACT: Deep sepsis is a serious postoperative complication of total hip arthroplasty, causing additional suffering, loss of function, need for additional treatment, and possibly early death. In a series of sixteen patients, the only effective treatment was complete extirpation of all implants combined with appropriate long-term administration of antibiotics. In fifteen patients the original operative objectives were not achieved. It is generally agreed that deep infection following total hip arthroplasty results in failure to achieve surgical objectives and the need for substantial additional treat-ment. In order to document more fully the severity of this complication, the present report reviews the clinical characteristics, treatment, and follow-up of sixteen pa