Treatment of infected hip arthroplasty with antibiotic-impregnated calcium hydroxyapatite.

We reviewed the treatment of infected hip arthroplasty with antibiotic-impregnated calcium hydroxyapatite (CHA) ceramic blocks. Seven consecutive patients consisting of 2 men and 5 women with an average age of 65 years were followed up for an average of 5.0 years. All patients received resection arthroplasty and thorough debridement, followed by implantation of antibiotic-impregnated CHA ceramic. Two-stage revision was performed in all patients. There was no evidence of a recurrent infection in 6 patients. The remaining one patient underwent an additional debridement 2 years after the second stage. This patient was free of infection at the time of the latest follow-up. Antibiotic-impregnated CHA ceramic is thus considered to be an excellent drug delivery system for the infected hip arthroplasty.