Management of the infected total knee replacement

Management of an infected total knee replacement remains one of the most feared complications of an otherwise successful procedure with an incidence of approximately 1%. A variety of treatment options exist to manage deep periprosthetic knee infections including: debridement with component retention, reimplantation of a second prosthesis, amputation, and arthrodesis. Based on the mode of presentation (acute post-operative, late chronic, or acute hematogenous infection), along with careful consideration of other variables that influence outcome such as, the ability of the host to fight infection, the status of the implant, and virulence of the organism, a practical approach to the management of infected total knee replacements is presented.