Risk factors for infection in total knee replacement surgery at hospital Kuala Lumpur.

One hundred primary TKR surgeries done between January 1994 and December 1999 were reviewed after a mean follow-up of 37.4 months. The rate of superficial and deep wound infection were 2% and 9% respectively. The most common organism in wound infection was Staphylococcus aureus. The factors that were significantly associated with superficial wound infection were diabetes mellitus (p = 0.005) and Rheumatoid arthritis (p = 0.0000). The factors that were significantly associated with deep wound infection were diabetes mellitus (p = 0.000). There was no significant difference between duration of surgery, and the mean age among patients with and without wound infections.