Infected total knee replacement: How I do a one-stage revision.

Abstract

As part of a session on the infected knee replacement at the British Orthopaedic Association congress in Liverpool, 2019, this topic was delivered as a lecture. The content and ideas of the lecture have been expanded to produce this article. One-stage revision total knee replacement is not a new concept but remains controversial. This article is not written to persuade any surgeon to undertake the procedure but to simply give a working framework for how one surgeon performs the operation. We will cover the philosophy underpinning the rationale for single-stage revision (not 2-in-1 revision) including extensile exposure, a defined debridement protocol, reconstruction and fixation, antibiotic delivery and exclusion criteria. None. The techniques outlined in this article should give confidence that one-stage revision knee replacement is a viable option when working within a multi-disciplinary team structure.