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← Return to Infection after TKR
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Joint Replacements | Last Active: Feb 7 7:29am | Replies (26)
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I had tkr on Nov 30. All went well for 4 weeks then infection raised its ugly head. Dr did debridement and replaced the plastic part. Also put antibiotic needs in place. They insert a pic line for antibiotics for 6 weeks. On my last 2 weeks now and I feel great! No pain. I’m still concerned for the longevity of the antibiotics but we’ll see what the infectious disease Dr says about that, best of luck. If I can help just reach out.
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Geez I'm so sorry you went through that. The risk of infection is very low, like 1%, but if you're in the 1% it doesn't matter.
I broke the tip of my ring finger years ago. I developed an infection in the bone, had a debridement surgery and did antibiotics via pic line for a month. It cleared up and hasn't returned. It also wasn't staph but some other weird bacteria. I'm pretty sure I picked it up at the ER when I broke it. It was a compound fracture and they reset it until I could have surgery. I don't remember them irrigating it in the ER or applying something like betadine.
I'm sure an infection in the knee can be more serious. Catching it early is key so all patients should simply look for unusual redness and swelling that spreads. Don't confuse it with the normal bruising fro the surgery and the tourniquet used on the thigh.
Anyway I'm glad you recovered. I'm pretty sure the infection has been killed but it's still best to be vigilant for a few months. The antibiotics have to kill all of the bacteria or it will come back. That said, I trust the infectious disease Drs to know when that point is reached.
All the best!