Orthopedic Surgical Infections: Diagnosis, Treatment and Management

Joint replacements with prostheses are frequent procedures that can cause various complications such as aseptic loosening or infection. The current infection incidence among all primary arthroplasties ranges between 1-3%. Both diagnosis of the infection and its therapy demand a long-term commitment and harbor a substantial risk of recurrence. Thus, meticulous pre-, intra-, and postoperative care and taking the necessary preventive measures remain of utmost importance. In this study, we review the current concepts regarding the diagnosis and therapy of prosthetic joint infections

Sphingomonas paucimobilis Bacteremia: A Rare Cause of Nosocomial Infections in Two Cases with Hematologic Malignancy

Sphingomonas paucimobilis is a gram-negative bacillus that can cause outbreaks in Hematology and Oncology units where most patients are immunosuppressed hosts. We describe here two cases of S. paucimobilis bacteremia with hematologic malignancy; one of them was primary and the other secondary to pneumonia

Retrospective Evaluation of Cases with the Diagnosis of Acute Bacterial Meningitis Over a 33-Year Period

Introduction: In this study, we retrospectively evaluated the epidemiological and clinical features, risk factors, laboratory findings, and relations between the therapy duration and mortality rates of cases followed with the diagnosis of acute bacterial meningitis. Materials and Methods: We reviewed data of patients with acute bacterial meningitis admitted to our hospital over a period of 33 years (1977-2010). Clinical, laboratory and demographic data were collected from the official records retrospectively. The data were analyzed through SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences), version 15.0. Results: One hundred and two of (97.2%) 110 cases were male and 8 (7.3%) were female, and the average age was 22.5 ± 5.93 (minimum 14, maximum 59). Recurrent meningitis had been seen in 10 (9.1%) cases. First admission to the hospital was 3.5 ± 4.1 days after the onset of complaints. While the most important physical examination findings were fever (91.8%), neck stiffness (95.5%) and Kernig’s and Brudzinski signs (84.5%), the most common neurologic sign was confusion (64.5%). In the microbiological analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid, pathogens were determined in 40% of all cases with Gram stain. While 75% of those showed gram-negative morphology, 25% showed gram-positive coccus morphology. Cultivation was detected in 27.3% of cerebrospinal fluid cultures. Conclusion: For acute bacterial meningitis diagnosis, Gram stain examination of cerebrospinal fluid is very important as well as clinical findings and physical examination