Orthopedic-Related Infections: Current Concepts and Future Perspectives

Dear Colleagues,

Bone and joint surgical procedures are among the most frequent operations performed in hospitals, for a wide variety of clinical conditions, including osteoarthritis or trauma. Such orthopedic procedures have proven to significantly improve patients’ quality of life and pain along with preserving function. Infection constitutes one of the most feared complications of such orthopedic surgery, resulting in significant morbidity and mortality.

Orthopedic-related infections are a huge issue in health care systems. They require both surgical and antimicrobial treatment and a long hospital stay. In addition, some cases need several operations including orthopedic and plastic surgery. The presence of bacterial biofilm in inert bone structures or foreign devices presents a huge challenge in the global management of orthopedic-related infections.

In this context, antimicrobial therapy represents a key step in assuring the best possible outcomes but often requires high doses and extended periods of time. Antimicrobial combinations exhibiting additive or synergistic effects may also play a role in treating these infections. Local antimicrobials are also often employed. Therefore, close collaboration between orthopedic surgeons, infectious disease specialists, microbiologists and pharmacologists is crucial when managing orthopedic-related infections.

In this complex scenario, and in spite of the considerable amount of research performed in this field in recent decades, many unresolved questions remain; indeed, most recommendations in these areas are based on expert opinions due to the limitations of the available information. Nevertheless, these limitations and the weaknesses of many of the available studies on orthopedic-related infections constitute a call to join forces to conduct well-designed, international, multidisciplinary studies.

This Special Issue aims to advance knowledge and expand our perspectives on orthopedic-related infections. 

Dr. Daniel Pérez-Prieto
Dr. Joan Gómez-Junyent
Guest Editors

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