Management of prosthetic joint infections. Clinical practice guidelines by the Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology
The incidence of prosthetic joint infection (PJI) is expected to increase in the years to come. PJI pose serious consequences for patients and high costs for the health system. The complexity of these infections make it necessary to organize the vast quantity of information published in the last years to help professionals of orthopaedic surgery, infectious disease specialists, internal medicine physicians, microbiologists, and all other health professionals responsible for the everyday management of patients with PJI. The present guidelines have been developed from a flowchart that includes the different medical-surgical strategies available to treat patients with PJI. The authors selected clinically relevant questions and then reviewed the available literature in order to give recommendations according to a predetermined degree of scientific evidence. The absence of randomized-controlled trials is remarkable; therefore, recommendations are mainly based on observational studies and data from animal studies. Before its final publication, the manuscript was made available online so that all members of the Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC) were able to read it and make comments and suggestions.
