TABLE 1.
Patient health status, infection characteristics, bacteriology, clinical course, and outcome
| Parameter | No. (%) of patients |
|
|---|---|---|
| Complete study cohort | Lower-extremity cohort | |
| Totala | 104 (100.0) | 70 (100.0) |
| Clinical course and infection outcome | ||
| Multiple revision surgeries | 89 (85.6) | 68 (97.1) |
| Clinical outcome, cured | 85 (81.7) | 53 (75.7) |
| Health status | ||
| Obesityb | 44 (42.3) | 32 (45.7) |
| Smoking | 28 (26.9) | 17 (24.3) |
| Diabetes | 14 (13.5) | 8 (11.4) |
| Chronic immunosuppression | 25 (24.0) | 14 (20.0) |
| Infection characteristics | ||
| Infection after fracture fixation | 78 (75.0) | 44 (62.9) |
| Prosthetic joint infection | 26 (25.0) | 26 (37.1) |
| Acute infection | 29 (27.9) | 20 (28.6) |
| Closed fracturec | 53 (67.9) | 25 (56.8) |
| Open fracture | 25 (32.1) | 19 (43.2) |
| Type of implant | ||
| Internal fixator | 6 (5.8) | 0 (0) |
| Prosthetic joint | 26 (25.0) | 26 (37.1) |
| Nail | 23 (22.1) | 20 (28.6) |
| Plate | 40 (38.5) | 22 (31.4) |
| Screw | 8 (7.7) | 2 (2.9) |
| K-wire | 1 (1.0) | 0 (0) |
| Localization | ||
| Spine | 6 (5.8) | NAd |
| Upper extremity | 7 (6.7) | NA |
| Pelvis | 7 (6.7) | NA |
| Tibia | 2 (1.9) | NA |
| Clavicle | 3 (2.9) | NA |
| Hip joint | 10 (9.6) | 10 (14.3) |
| Femur | 7 (6.7) | 7 (10.0) |
| Knee joint | 18 (17.3) | 18 (25.7) |
| Lower leg, including upper ankle joint | 35 (33.7) | 35 (50.0) |
| Lower ankle joint, including foot | 9 (8.7) | NA |
| Bacteriological evaluation | ||
| Methicillin resistance | 70 (67.3) | 52 (74.3) |
| Multidrug resistance | 77 (74.0) | 56 (80.0) |
| Biofilm formation | ||
| None | 31 (29.8) | 24 (34.3) |
| Weak | 39 (37.5) | 26 (37.1) |
| Intermediate | 22 (21.2) | 11 (15.7) |
| Strong | 12 (11.5) | 9 (12.9) |
a
Each patient had 1 S. epidermidis isolate.
b
Defined as a BMI of >30.
c
Prosthetic joint infection not included.
d
NA, not applicable.