Prevention of sepsis.

One of the goals of modern surgery is to avoid a postoperative infection. This can only be accomplished by a surgeon's thorough understanding of the factors that may contribute to infection. Its prevention requires strict adherence to aseptic surgical technique, control of a favorable operating room environment, identification and treatment of the high-risk patient, prophylactic antibiotics, and correction of any nutritional derangements prior to surgery. The use of antibiotic acrylic composites also plays a role that is less well understood. The present low incidence of infection in total arthroplasty can only be maintained or improved by identifying and correcting all factors that may lead to infection.