Infection after silicone prosthetic arthroplasty in the hand

After 2105 silicone prosthetic arthroplasties in the hands of 631 patients, infections occurred in ten. The average time from operation to onset of signs and symptoms of infection was seventeen days, and in seven of the ten patients the infecting organism was Staphylococcus aureus. Seven patients ultimately were treated by removal of the prosthesis, intravenous antibiotics for about five days, and oral antibiotics for about two weeks. At follow-up, twelve to fifty-six months after operation, nearly all of the patients had stable, somewhat stiff but pain-free joints, the results being similar to those after resection arthroplasty.