Information for Medical Professionals

MRSA can pose technical joint replacement problems

Presence of penicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) ahead of total knee arthroplasty is likely to create technical difficulties during surgery, it has been claimed.

However, according to new research presented at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, in New Orleans, the presence of MRSA does not have to impact on surgical outcome if it is dealt with effectively.

Richard McGough, who presented the research, was reported by Ortho Supersite as saying: "We really feel that MRSA sepsis doesn't necessarily preclude a good functional outcome if the patient is able to keep [up] with the treatment."

Commenting on the new paper, which looked at 103 total knee arthroplasties, McGough added: "We had similar functional outcomes in non-MRSA infected vs infected knees as in the literature, despite the small sample size."

Recent research conducted at the University Hospital Basel's Department of Internal Medicine, in Switzerland, showed that differentiation between infectious and non-infectious postoperative fever is difficult using existing markers.

---

<< Back

News provided by Adfero in collaboration with Biomet. Please note that all copy is (c) Adfero Ltd and does not reflect the views or opinions of Biomet unless explicitly stated.