Conservative multimodal management of osteosynthesis material in surgical wounds with polymicrobial superinfection,...

Retentive treatment of prosthetic material superinfected by resistant microorganisms is a challenge, especially when the causative agent is a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. We present the successful conservative management of osteosynthesis material implanted due to ankle fracture in an elderly patient who suffered superinfection by the aforementioned microorganism, in which the antimicrobial treatment consisted of the combination of antibiotic-guided systemic antibiotics (after a first ineffective empirical cycle), together with topical irrigations of sevoflurane, applications of silver sulfadiazine cream, and subsequently coverage of the skin defect with negative pressure therapy. We highlight the novel role of sevoflurane as an analgesic and as a topical antimicrobial agent (in addition to silver sulfadiazine) in the favourable evolution of the wound, especially in the period in which the empirical antibiotic therapy was ineffective and negative pressure therapy had not yet been applied.