Clinical Experience With a Coordinated Multidisciplinary Approach to Treating Prosthetic Joint Infection

The successful treatment of prosthetic joint infection (PJI) is difficult, requiring coordination across multiple specialties. In 2017, we formed a collaboration between our infectious disease clinicians and our orthopaedic arthroplasty surgeons in an effort to optimize care, accommodate patients, and expedite clinical decision-making in the treatment of PJI. The model consisted of combined infectious disease and arthroplasty clinics, standardized lab results, and planned staged revision procedures. We named this the arthroplasty infection service. Our early experience with a defined multidisciplinary approach to PJI was positive. Although the impact of the arthroplasty infection service on PJI outcomes is yet to be determined, we believe this is a step forward in the management of this complex patient population. With an increasing burden of PJI in the United States, this model could be emulated at many institutions that regularly treat these challenging cases.