The outcome of perioperative wound infection after total hip and knee arthroplasty.

Forty-one consecutive patients with primary knee arthroplasty and 37 with primary hip arthroplasty, all with perioperative wound infections, were followed for 50 (12-130) months. Staphylococci (coagulase negative and positive) accounted for 74% of wound infections. Mixed organisms accounted for 10%. Prosthetic infections developed in eight patients and aseptic loosening in three patients. All the prosthetic infections developed within 6 months of the primary surgery. Organisms responsible for superficial infections were responsible for prosthetic infection in five patients; no organisms were isolated in the remaining three patients. The presence or absence of wound dehiscence, wound haematoma, and postoperative pyrexia did not predict the development of deep sepsis; however, the presence of wound discharge was a significant risk factor.