Guidelines and evidence-based medicine on hip periprosthetic joint infections prevention

The prevention of surgical site infections is a priority within the objectives of the National Health System. The negative consequences that postoperative infections entail (morbidity, duration of hospitalization, mortality) represent serious events both for the individual patient and for the community, in consideration of the care resources necessary to treat them. Aim of this paper is to review the scientific evidence derived from accredited and recent guidelines regarding the available methods of infection prevention in hip arthroplasty, in order to establish those that present reliable evidence to support and that deserve to be shared, implemented and that ultimately represent an indicator of the quality of care that we are able to provide to our patients. A review was conducted on the MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and Cochrane Library databases from January 2010 to May 2021 aimed at finding guidelines of high methodological quality produced by super partes or independent international bodies. The paper analyzes risk factors for infection and provides a summary of best practices that can minimize infectious risk in hip surgery. Adherence to the recommendations expressed by multidisciplinary, evidence-based, up-to-date and authoritative guidelines is the most rigorous way to offer the patient a high standard of care.