Yde Engelsma1, Pieter Buma2, Pieter C Geervliet1, Arthur Van Noort1
1 Orthopaedic Department, Spaarne Hospital, Hoofddorp, Netherlands 2 Orthopaedic Research Laboratory, Radboud University Medical Centre Nijmegen, Netherlands
Correspondence Address:
Yde Engelsma Spaarne Ziekenhuis, Hoofddorp, Ceintuurbaan 230-2, 1072GE Amsterdam Netherlands
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DOI: 10.4103/0973-6042.106225
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Septic failure of a shoulder arthroplasty due to a low-grade infection is generally called septic loosening. However, it is often not investigated if a prosthesis is genuinely loose. We present a case of a failed resurfacing prosthesis in a 70-year-old woman. This prosthesis failed due to a low-grade infection and a revision procedure was mandatory. All intraoperative cultures were positive and revealed a combination of bacteria. Nevertheless, histology revealed a macroscopic and a microscopic stable prosthesis with full osseointegration beneath the prosthesis. The general conception is that an infection leads to interface formation (with neutrophils) and loosening of the prosthesis. We debate this with the presentation of this case of a failed shoulder prosthesis and we think that periprosthetic infection and septic prosthetic loosening are two different entities.
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