Regional Prophylactic Vancomycin in Revision Total Knee Replacement

Patients were assigned to one of two groups by chance (like a coin toss):

• GROUP 1 - Received 500mg of vancomycin into the tibia (shin) bone of the leg being operated on.
• GROUP 2 - Received 1g of vancomycin, which is the amount normally given to patients.

For both groups, the revision knee replacement will then be carried out as normal.

OTHER ANTIBIOTICS All patients received cefazolin IV (an antibiotic used to prevent infection) prior to the beginning of surgery to ensure effective preventive antibiotics. The patient will also received 3 postoperative doses of cefazolin over a 24-hour period (4 doses in total). This is standard of care for all total knee replacement surgeries.

TISSUE SAMPLES

• Ten (10) tissue samples were taken during the surgery, consisting of both bone and fat beneath the skin. Each sample were very small, around the size of a pinhead.
• In addition, a drain sample was taken from the knee joint drain fluid to measure vancomycin concentration the morning following surgery.
• These samples were frozen and sent to a lab for analysis.

Inclusion criteria

• Revision total knee arthroplasty
• Informed consent given

Exclusion criteria

• Current treatment with IV Vancomycin within the preceding 7 days
• Previous hypersensitivity to vancomycin
• Significant cardiac or respiratory abnormality
• Contraindications to using the intraosseous vascular access system (EZ-IO)
• Sepsis