Characteristics and Outcome of Vascular Graft Infections: A Risk Factor and Survival Analysis.

Background: Vascular graft infection (VGI) is a serious complication after implantation of arterial vascular grafts. Optimal surgical and pathogen-specific antimicrobial treatment regimens for VGI are largely unknown. We evaluated patients with arterial VGI according to onset, location, microbiological and imaging characteristics, and surgical and antimicrobial treatment and performed an outcome evaluation. Methods: Consecutive patients with VGI treated in 2 hospitals from 2010 through 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. Uniform definition criteria and standardized outcome evaluation were applied. Logistic regression was used for multiple analysis; survival analysis was performed with Kaplan-Meier analysis and a log-rank test. Results: Seventy-eight patients with VGI were included: 30 early-onset cases (<8 weeks after graft implantation) and 48 late-onset cases, involving 49 aortic and 29 peripheral grafts. The median time from initial implantation to diagnosis of VGI was significantly longer in aortic than peripheral VGIs (363 vs 56 days, P = .018). Late-onset VGI (odds ratio [OR], 7.3; P = .005) and the presence of surgical site infection/complication (OR, 8.21; P = .006) were independent risk factors for treatment failure. Surgical site infection/complication was associated with a higher risk for early-onset VGI (OR, 3.13; P = .040). Longer infection-free survival was observed in cases where the infected graft was surgically removed (P = .037). Conclusions: This study underlines the importance of timely diagnosis of VGI and preventing surgical site infections/complications at graft implantation. It highlights the complexity of infection eradication, especially for late-onset infections, and the importance of adequate antimicrobial and surgical treatment.

Interdisciplinary Infection Prevention and Control Bundle in Neurosurgical Patients: Results of a Prospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Surgical site infections (SSIs) account for one of the most common causes of nosocomial infections. Bundle approaches for infection prevention and control do not capture the full complexity of neurosurgical interventions. OBJECTIVE: To study the efficacy of an interdisciplinary infection prevention and control bundle (IPCB) in neurosurgery. METHODS: This was a prospective, single-center, observational study, analyzing 3 periods: before (2014), during (2017), and after (2019) full implementation of IPCB. IPCB included the following infection prevention measures: preoperative decolonization, patient engagement, operating room (OR) hygiene protocol, and pre-, peri-, and postoperative standard operating procedures (SOPs) while infection control measures included intraoperative sonication, blood culture inoculation, and interdisciplinary SSI management. All neurosurgical patients being readmitted to the hospital for SSIs within 90 days after receiving index surgery were included in the trial (403/9305). RESULTS: Implementation of IPCB resulted in more frequently succeeded pathogen isolation in patients with SSI (2014: 138 isolates in 105 (83%) patients with SSI, 2017: 169 isolates in 124 (91%) patients with SSI, and 2019: 199 isolates in 136 (97%) patients with SSI; P < .001). Proportion of gram-positive SSI and virulence was declining ( P = .041, P = .007). The number of repeated revision surgeries decreased from 26 (20%) in 2014 and 31 (23%) in 2017 to 18 (13%) in 2019 ( P = .085). Significantly, fewer patients experienced sepsis in response to SSI (2014: 12%, 2017: 10%, and 2019: 3.6%, P = .035). In-hospital mortality rate was declining from 12 (9.4%) in 2014 to 9 (6.6%) in 2017 to 5 (3.6%) in 2019 ( P = .148). CONCLUSION: Introducing an interdisciplinary IPCB in neurosurgery leads to a significant reduction of sepsis and decreased in-hospital mortality while a pathogen switch toward gram-negative bacteria was observed. Minimizing diagnostic gap of pathogen detection toward a more efficient anti-infective treatment may be the main reason for the substantial decrease in morbidity and mortality.

The role of biopsy in diagnosing infection after hip and knee arthroplasty: a meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Early diagnosis of periprosthetic hip and knee infection still represents a major challenge, as no single test can achieve ideal results. Currently, multiple preoperative indicators were performed to diagnose periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) to confirm or exclude infection in the early stage. However, the diagnostic value of biopsy-related tests in diagnosing periprosthetic hip and knee infection remains unclear. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Publications in PubMed, Embase, and the Web of Science databases were searched systematically until October 2020. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were used for screening biopsy-related studies of the diagnosis of periprosthetic hip and knee infection. RESULTS: Three biopsy-related tests were identified in 14 articles and further analyzed in the present meta-analysis. The combined method had the highest value for the area under the curve (0.9805), followed by histology (0.9425) and microbiological tests (0.9292). In the subgroup, statistical differences were identified in sensitivity and specificity for PJI diagnosis between the synovial fluid culture and biopsy culture group, as well as in the biopsy-related combined method and serum C-reactive protein. CONCLUSIONS: Biopsy culture does not appear to be advantageous compared to synovial fluid culture in the preoperative diagnosis of periprosthetic hip and knee infection. In contrast, combined biopsy microbial culture with histology analysis shows great potential in improving the preoperative diagnosis of PJI. The standard procedure of biopsy needs to be further explored. Further research is required to verify our results.

The Pertinent Literature of Enhanced Recovery after Surgery Programs: A Bibliometric Approach.

Background and Objectives: The programs of enhanced recovery after surgery are the new revolution in surgical departments; however, features of this concept have not been systematically explored. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS)-related research using bibliometric analysis. Materials and Methods: The search strategy of ERAS programs was conducted in the Web of Science database. Bibliometric analysis was further performed by Excel and Bibliometrix software. The relationship between citation counts and Mendeley readers was assessed by linear regression analysis. Results: 8539 studies from 1994-2019 were included in the present research, with reporting studies originating from 91 countries using 18 languages. The United States (US) published the greatest number of articles. International cooperation was discovered in 82 countries, with the most cooperative country being the United Kingdom. Henrik Kehlet was found to have published the highest number of studies. The journal Anesthesia and Analgesia had the largest number of articles. Linear regression analysis presented a strong positive correlation between citations and Mendeley readers. Most research was related to gastrointestinal surgery in this field. Conclusion: This bibliometric analysis shows the current status of ERAS programs from multiple perspectives, and it provides reference and guidance to scholars for further research.

Meta-analysis of serum and/or plasma D-dimer in the diagnosis of periprosthetic joint infection.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the diagnostic value of D-dimer in detecting periprosthetic joint infection (PJI). METHODS: A systematic search and screening of relevant studies was performed in the databases PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase using the following medical subject headings (MeSH) or keywords: "arthroplasty or joint prosthesis or joint replacement or periprosthetic joint or prosthetic joint", "infection or infectious or infected", and "D-dimer or serum D-dimer or plasma D-dimer or fibrin degradation products". Data were subsequently analysed and processed using Meta-Disc. RESULTS: Seven studies with 1285 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, and diagnostic odds ratio were 0.75 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.70-0.79), 0.69 (95% CI 0.66-0.72), 3.01 (95% CI 1.84-4.93), 0.32 (95% CI 0.19-0.53), and 10.20 (95% CI 3.63-28.64), respectively. Subgroup analyses showed that the use of serum D-dimer had better sensitivity and specificity than plasma D-dimer for the diagnosis of PJI. CONCLUSIONS: Serum D-dimer was shown to have a better diagnostic value than plasma D-dimer for the diagnosis of PJI. Further research is required for clarification.

Spinal implant-associated infections: a prospective multicentre cohort study.

This study evaluated the clinical, laboratory, microbiological, radiological and treatment characteristics of patients with early-onset and late-onset spinal implant-associated infections. Patients diagnosed with spinal implant-associated infection between 2015-2019 were prospectively included and treated according to a standardised algorithm. Infections were classified as early-onset (≤6 weeks) and late-onset (>6 weeks). Among 250 patients, 152 (61%) had early-onset and 98 (39%) had late-onset infection. Local inflammatory signs was the most common manifestation in early-onset infections (84%), whereas late-onset infections presented mainly with persisting or increasing local pain (71%). Sonication fluid was more often positive than peri-implant tissue samples (90% vs. 79%; P = 0.016), particularly in late-onset infections (92% vs. 75%; P = 0.005). Predominant pathogens were coagulase-negative staphylococci, Staphylococcus aureus and Cutibacterium spp. Debridement and implant retention was the most common surgical approach in early-onset infections (85%), whereas partial or complete implant exchange was mainly performed in late-onset infections (62%). Of the 250 patients, 220 (88%) received biofilm-active antibiotics, and median treatment duration was 11.7 weeks. Moreover, 49 patients (20%) needed more than one revision for infection and six patients (2.4%) died during hospital stay. Concluding, most spinal implant-associated infections were acquired during surgery and presented within 6 weeks of surgery. Infections presented mainly with local inflammatory signs in early-onset and with persisting or increasing pain in late-onset infections. Sonication was the most sensitive microbiological method, particularly in late-onset infections. Debridement and implant retention was used in well-integrated implants without loosening, independent of the time of infection onset.

The global state of clinical research and trends in periprosthetic joint infection: A bibliometric analysis.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to estimate the trends and state of research in periprosthetic joint infection (PJI). METHODS: Publications on PJI published between 1998 and 2018 were searched in the Web of Science database and analyzed using bibliometrics. The Altmetric score and Research Interest score were combined to provide a weighted count. The scope of the Altmetric score includes >16 weighted composite scores from websites such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, whereas the Research Interest score is calculated from information derived from ResearchGate. RESULTS: Total of 3245 published documents were identified. The largest contribution was made by the United States, with the institution contributing most being the Rothman Institute. The most relative articles were published by the Journal of Arthroplasty, whereas the highest citation frequency journal was Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research. There was a positive correlation between citation counts and Research Interest scores, while the Altmetric Attention score showed a negative value for highly cited articles. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the current trends of globalization, there is a rising trend in publications on PJI, with the largest annual contributions made by the United States. The most influential contributors are researchers from the United States and Europe. Twitter is used as a platform to communicate knowledge by most PJI researchers. The most recent research has focused on the diagnosis and risk factors of PJI.