Skin commensal bacteria such as staphylococci are often the source of orthopaedic-device-related infections. Rifampicin is a widely used antibiotic in the treatment of these infections. The results of this study show that oral rifampicin therapy leads to a consistent and persistent induction of resistance in commensal staphylococci on the skin and in the nose for a prolonged time. 

A total of 41 patients who underwent surgical treatment for septic arthritis (SA) of the native hip were studied. We show that patients with SA of the native hip can be divided in three distinct clinical subgroups based on route of infection. Route of infection is directly related to the chance of femoral head preservation and should, therefore, be the basis for decision-making. Only patients with blood-borne infections in an undamaged hip had a reasonable chance of femoral head preservation.

The relation between postoperative wound leakage and occurrence of a prosthetic joint infection (PJI) after arthroplasty has not been investigated in a prospective study. We performed a large cohort study in which 1019 patients, after arthroplasty, recorded their wound drainage status in a wound care app during 30 postoperative days. Risk factors for wound drainage were identified. Moderate to heavy wound leakage in the third postoperative week was strongly associated with the occurrence of PJI.

Forty years ago I made a radical professional choice: to dedicate a few years of practice to the African continent. Not surprisingly, a few years became many. This paper is dedicated to the children who are battling osteoarticular infections and to those who will be struggling with them in future.

Arthroplasty after septic arthritis (SA) raises diagnostic and therapeutic questions. We report on 49 knee and hip arthroplasties following SA. Median SA-to-arthroplasty interval was 32 weeks, and one-stage arthroplasty was performed in 43 episodes. No SA relapse but 5 new prosthetic joint infections occurred with an infection-free survival rate of 96 % at 2 years. Arthroplasty may be a post-SA option, even within a short period of time but requires specific management and prolonged monitoring.