Infection from Surgery

• About 1 percent of first-time hip surgeries result in infection. Depending on the type of infection and how deep it is, treatments range from antibiotics to removal of the hip. One of the problems with joint-replacement surgery is that the inorganic material of the replacement joint doesn't react to fight bacteria like the body's natural joint would, and so bacteria increases and infection sets in.
  
  

Antibiotic Treatment

• Antibiotics are the easiest way to prevent infection. Doctors will usually prescribe them just before the surgery and continue administering them during the surgery. If an infection is noticed postoperatively, antibiotics are the first line of defense a doctor has. Antibiotic treatment will last around six weeks.
  
  

Two-Stage Implant Removal

• If an infection is noticed two months or more after the surgery, it is called a late infection. This type of infection usually requires the removal of the implant and replacement with an antibiotic spacer. The patient will then have to undergo at least six weeks of antibiotic treatment through an IV. Only after the infection has been thoroughly eradicated can the implant be placed back in the hip.
  
  

One-Stage Implant Removal

• This approach requires the surgeon to remove the implant and any infected tissue around it. The area is then flushed with antibiotics (usually using antibiotic spacers) and a new hip implanted. This strategy is not used as often as it was in the past, but some doctors will attempt it with elderly patients who couldn't tolerate the two surgeries associated with a two-stage removal.
  
  

Treatments of a Last Resort

• Hip fusion is when the upper thigh bone is attached to the pelvic bone with screws and plates. The goal is to grow bone between the two bones, but it usually fails. Girdlestone plastic is when the hip joint is removed and nothing put in its place. The majority of patients who undergo this cannot walk without an aid afterward, and they also usually have hip pain.