Please write the title of your abstract here. The title should not exceed 20 words. Amphotericin-B loaded bone cement spacer in combination with IV antifungals was sufficient to induce fungal clearance in a revision knee arthroplasty case study. Please do not include any author details (name or affiliation) to the abstract title or text. Please write your abstract text here. The word limit is 350 words. Please do not include any pictures or graphics. Peri-prosthetic joint infections (PJI) are a known complication of lower limb arthroplasty. While bacteria is the most common causative agent, fungal PJIs are identified in around 1% of all cases and result equally devistating. The treatment of bacterial PJIs through the use of antibiotic impregnated bone cement is a widely accepted technique, but the use of antifungal impregnated cement for the treatment of fungal PJIs is only just being established. Typically antifungal agents are impregnated either into a temporary spacer that is later removed during second stage revision, or directly into the implant cement mantel itself. However, there is little clinical evidence regarding the safety and efficacy of these two different approaches, and what data does exist is varied. The effect of antifungal agents on the mechanical strength of bone cement is also poorly understood; favouring the use of temporary bone spacers if it can be shown they achieve good efficacy and safety. To address this we report here the case study of a 68 year old female patient who presented 18 months after a primary total knee replacement with aseptic loosening of the prothesis. Uncomplicated one stage revision surgery was conducted with good clinical post operative recovery. Unfortunately four months later, during a prolonged hospital admission for cauda equina syndrome, the patient became clinically septic with a red, hot and swollen knee. Aspiration of the knee confirmed a diagnosis of haematological seeded, mixed bacterial and candidal peri-prosthetic infection. The introduction of Amphotericin-B loaded, temporary bone cement spacer in combination with IV Caspofungin during revision surgery was sufficient to induce complete clearance of all fungal infection in the peri-prostheic region. However, in this patient, bacterial PJI reoccurred and antibiotic therapies continued. Our data suggest that the introduction of antifungal agents into the periprosthetic region via a temporary bone cement spacer is sufficient for good antifungal activity, and that the impregnation of such agents into the primary bone cement mantel, with the subsequent unknown effect on cement integrity, is not a requirement.
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