The susceptibility of total joint replacement to hematogenous infection in the early postoperative period: an experimental study in the rabbit.

Postoperatively a suspension of Staphylococcus aureus was injected intravenously in rabbits with experimental total knee arthroplasties. Four weeks after the operation 70% of the total joint replacements were infected whereas a bacterial survey revealed ony occasional positive cultures from the kidneys. The infected joint prostheses were all loose, and histologic and microradiographic signs of loosening and infection were common in the surrounding tissues. The results illustrate the importance of preventing bacteremia in the early postoperative period of total joint arthroplasty.