Abstracts Posters SICOT-SOF meeting Gothenburg 2010 _2_

Poster
Topic: Infections
Abstract number: 25413
OSSEOINTEGRATED TRANSCUTANEOUS TITANIUM PROSTHETIC SYSTEM
FOR AMPUTEES -INFECTIOUS COMPLICATIONS
Jonatan TILLANDER, Rickard BRANEMARK, Kerstin HAGBERG, Lars HAGBERG
University of Gothenburg, Department of Infectious Diseases, Gothenburg
(SWEDEN)
Background: The osseointegrated transcutaneous titanium prosthetic system for
amputees is intended to assure stable long-term fixation. Most metal transcutaneous
implants have previously failed because of infections. Aim: To study infectious
complications with this novel method and to evaluate the bacterial flora at the skinpenetration
area and its relation to local and implant-related infection. Methods: 39
arm and leg amputees who had lived with their transcutaneous osseointegrated
titanium implants for in mean 56 months (range 3-132 months) were included. There
were 33 femoral, four ulnar, four radial, three humeral and one tibial implant. Patients
were cross-sectionally included during a six month period in 2005 and identically reevaluated
after 3 years prospective follow-up. Results: The cross sectional
frequency of implant infection was 5% at inclusion and 18% at follow-up. One
infected patient recovered as a result of antibiotic treatment and one had the implant
removed. Most implant infections had low infectious activity and in five of the seven
infected patients, prosthetic use was not affected. The most common bacteria in both
superficial and deep cultures were Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative
staphylococci. Conclusions: Despite frequent colonization around the skin-implant
interface by potentially virulent bacteria such as S. aureus and bacteria associated
with biomedical device infections such as coagulase-negative staphylococci, this
titanium implant system for bone-anchored prostheses causes few severe infections
leading to disability or implant extraction.
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