[Experiences with Refobacin-Palacos with regard to deep late infections following hip-joint endoprosthesis surgery. A 4-years' study (author's transl)].

667 TEP operations were performed in our hospital from 1970 to 1973. Two groups of patients were treated either with Palacos-R without addition of antibiotics (n = 336) or with Refobacin-Palacos (n = 331). Both groups received a combined postoperative systemic antibiotic infection prophylaxis. The authors' own subsequent investigations, completion of patient questionnaires and--in case of subjective complaints--medical questionnaires, were sufficient to follow up all patients, with the exception of two, over a period of 5--4 or 4--3 years. The infection rate in the group without addition of antibiotics was 6,3 or 4,1% for early or late infections respectively, in the Palacos group, whereas in the Refobacin-Palacos group the rate of early or late infections was only 0,6%. No sensitization in respect of the incorporated gentamycin antibiotic was found.