Description
Total hip arthroplasty is a very common operation. Although the infection rate has decreased enormously, it has now remained constant at about 1% during the lifetime of the component. The most common presenting symptom is pain. All investigations of a painful hip arthroplasty should be performed with infection in mind. Diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and malnutrition can all lead to a compromised immune response thus favouring infection. If the infection cannot be controlled, then exchange arthroplasty with reimplanatation should be considered.
