The influence of the alloy of megaprostheses on infection rate.

We retrospectively reviewed 197 patients who underwent reconstruction with a megaprosthesis of the lower extremity. A cobalt-chrome alloy system was used in 77 patients and a titanium alloy system in 120 patients. The overall infection rate was 20.8% (n = 41). Separated into the 2 prosthesis systems used, an infection rate of 31.2% was found in the patients with a cobalt-chrome-alloy prosthesis and 14.2% in the titanium alloy group of patients (P < .01). Early infection occurred in 5.1% (n = 10) and late infection in 15.7% (n = 31). Selecting 2 identical subgroups for further analysis, the cobalt-chrome alloy prostheses were associated with a significantly higher infection rate, with 5 infections of 26 megaprostheses vs 1 infection of 36 titanium megaprostheses (P < .05).