Intraosseous Vancomycin May Not Be Helpful in Aseptic Revision Knee Arthroplasty: A Single-Surgeon Consecutive Case Series

BACKGROUND:Infection after aseptic revision total knee arthroplasty (TKA) has been reported from 9% to 14%. Intraosseous (IO) vancomycin infusion has decreased the risk of infection after primary TKA. The results of this additional prophylaxis were evaluated in aseptic revision TKA.METHODS:In this prospective, single-surgeon study of 20 consecutive patients having aseptic revision TKA, 500 milligrams of vancomycin in 120 mL of saline were infused into the tibia prior to incision, in addition to intravenous (IV) cefazolin. There were 18 men and 2 women who had a mean age of 67 years (range, 47-79), and mean body mass index of 34.4 (range, 25.9-51.2). The knees were aspirated in the operating room prior to IV and IO antibiotics. The outcomes were infections at 90 days requiring reoperation and complications from the infusion.RESULTS:Three of the 20 aseptic revisions had early prosthetic joint infection, 2 with gram-negative organisms and one with coagulase-negative Staphylococcus. All had debridement, liner exchange and IV antibiotic treatment, but 1 patient eventually had an above knee amputation. No patient had total body "erythema syndrome", but 1 patient had transient facial flushing. Six patients had a transient elevation of serum creatinine including 3 with an abnormal preoperative serum creatinine.CONCLUSION:In this small series of aseptic revision TKA, there was no added benefit of IO vancomycin infusion, but there were no infections with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Additional studies are needed before this technique should be routinely recommended.