Lower Urinary Tract Infection and Periprosthetic Joint Infection after Elective Primary Total Hip Arthroplasty

Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) after total hip arthroplasty (THA) is a grave complication. Urinary tract infection (UTI) as a source for PJI is controversial. Our purposes were, (1) to evaluate the incidence of PJI after elective primary THA and (2) to determine whether UTI was associated with a risk of PJI after elective primary THA.

We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 527 patients who underwent elective primary THA by using universal aseptic technique from May 2003 to October 2007. UTI group (13 patients) was defined as patients who underwent THA in status of having an UTI, and the remaining patients were defined as control group (514 patients). We compared the incidence of PJI in both groups.

During the study period, the incidence of PJI was 0%, regardless of existence (or presence) of UTI.

There was no significant association between UTI and PJI, when cautiously performed THA.