We compared prosthetic joint infection (PJI) and acute kidney injury (AKI) rates among cohorts before and after changing our hospital's antimicrobial prophylaxis from cefuroxime to teicoplanin plus gentamicin for primary total joint arthroplasty. Switching to teicoplanin and gentamicin was associated with a significant risk reduction for PJI of 75.2 %. Significantly higher AKI rates were seen in patients receiving teicoplanin plus gentamicin; however, these were mild (KDIGO stage 1).

Cutibacterium acnes is a bacterium responsible for most postoperative infections in orthopaedic shoulder surgery. There is currently a number of studies describing measures to reduce bacterial burden on the skin prior to surgery. In these studies it is rarely explained what bacterial sampling technique has been used. This study compares three different swab techniques and concludes that the new pencil eraser swab technique may be the best in detecting bacteria.

Cutibacterium acnes infections in hip arthroplasty may be underdiagnosed. Cemented components in THA seem to protect from colonization of Cutibacterium acnes. Post-operative infections are preferably surgically treated with DAIR within a month after hip replacement but infection eradication may still not be excluded at an extended time in some cases. Further large-scale studies are needed to confirm our results.