Table 2.

Items included in the questionnaire sent to the participants

Based on the following criteria, success in PJI treatment should be defined as:
Dimension A Infection eradication, characterized by:	No clinical failure (healed wound without fistula or drainage and painless joint)
	Return to baseline (or to the normal level) of serologic markers (including C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, white blood cells)
	No need for antibiotic suppression treatment
	No infection recurrence caused by the same organism strain
	No incident (new) infection with a different organism
	No concomitant PJI in other surgical site
Dimension B No subsequent surgical intervention after reimplantation surgery, characterized by:	No reoperation attributable to infection
	No revisions owing to aseptic causes in the proposed followup period (including aseptic loosening, instability, stiffness)
	No radical surgeries after reimplantation (including: lower limb amputation, hip/knee arthrodesis, hip resection arthroplasty)
Dimension C No presence of PJI-related morbidity or mortality, characterized by:	No death caused by a condition directly linked to PJI (including sepsis, necrotizing fasciitis).
	No death in a hospitalization owing to treatment of PJI, by causes not directly linked with PJI (including myocardial infarction, stroke, pneumonia)
	Hospital length of stay less than 3 months/year during treatment of PJI
	No medical complications associated with PJI intravenous or local antibiotic treatment (including systemic toxicity, renal insufficiency, peripherally inserted central catheter line complications)
Dimension D Maintenance of functional level after PJI treatment, characterized by:	Equal or better functional status than before the index arthroplasty (using any functional scale)
	Equal or better functional status than before the diagnosis of PJI (in patient with formerly well-functioning arthroplasty), using any functional scale
	Functional improvement equal or better than the minimal clinical important difference described for the used score or functional scale
	Patient satisfaction with the achieved outcome (binary score: satisfied versus not satisfied)
	Absence of psychiatric comorbidity (or deterioration of previous disease) caused by PJI or its treatment
Dimension E Definition of early results after PJI treatment (regarding peer-reviewed publications)	1 year after PJI definitive surgery (last surgery performed for PJI)
	18 months after definitive surgery
	2 years after definitive surgery
Dimension F Definition of midterm results after PJI treatment (regarding peer-reviewed publications)	3 years after definitive surgery
	4 years after definitive surgery
	5 years after definitive surgery
Dimension G Definition of long-term results after PJI treatment (regarding peer-reviewed publications)	Greater than 5 years after definitive surgery
	10 years or more after definitive surgery

PJI = periprosthetic joint infection.