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Background: Complex surgical site infections (SSIs) and revisions for these infectious complications following total knee and hip arthroplasties are associated with significant economic costs., Aim: To evaluate the cost of one-stage and two-stage revision; debridement, antibiotics and implant retention (DAIR); and DAIR with liner exchange for complex hip or knee SSIs in Alberta, Canada., Methods: The Alberta Health Services Infection Prevention and Control database was used to identify individuals aged ≥18 years from the two major urban centres in Alberta - Calgary and Edmonton - with complex hip or knee SSIs who underwent surgical intervention between 1 st April 2012 and 31 st March 2019. Micro-costing and gross costing methods were used to estimate 12- and 24-month costs following the initial hospital admission for arthroplasty. Subgroup, inverse Gaussian and gamma regression analyses were used to evaluate associations between cost and revision procedure, age, sex and comorbidities., Findings: In total, 382 patients with complex SSIs were identified, with a mean age of 66.1 years. DAIR and DAIR with liner exchange resulted in the lowest 12- and 24-month costs at $53,197 [95% confidence interval (CI) $38,006-68,388] and $57,340 (95% CI $48,576-66,105), respectively; two-stage revision was the costliest procedure. Most of the costs incurred (>98%) were accrued within the first 12 months following the initial procedure., Conclusions: Medical costs are highest in the 12 months following initial arthroplasty, and for two-stage revision procedures in hip and knee complex SSIs., (Copyright © 2022 The Healthcare Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Surgical site infection (SSI) following hip or knee arthroplasty poses a serious health and economic burden., Aim: To evaluate SSI management strategies and outcomes to help address this problem., Methods: A retrospective cohort study was undertaken of adults undergoing primary total hip or knee arthroplasty who were identified to have a complex SSI by infection prevention and control surveillance audit. Audits identified SSI within 90 days of arthroplasty. Patients at two tertiary referral centres in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada from 2012 to 2019 were included, and SSI cases were followed for 2 years., Findings: In total, 240 SSIs were identified. Of these, 202 (84%) cases were managed with debridement with antibiotics and implant retention (DAIR), of which 71% achieved cure. The use of any topical intra-operative antibiotic in DAIR was not associated with improved outcome (odds ratio 1.68, 95% confidence interval 0.91-3.10; P=0.097). DAIR performed 31-90 days after arthroplasty had a lower chance of cure compared with DAIR performed within 30 days of arthroplasty; however, this difference was not significant (60 vs 73%; P=0.123). Initial treatment failures requiring additional surgery had a 51% cure rate. The majority (78%) of treatment failures initially managed with DAIR ultimately required two-stage revision., Conclusions: This study provides insight from a population-based perspective into the surgical management of SSI after primary total hip or knee arthroplasty in a large cohort. Additionally, SSIs that had initial management failure were followed. These data can inform future studies, such as the economic burden associated with these infections, and may be used to plan interventions to optimize SSI management., (Copyright © 2022 The Healthcare Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)