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Symptomatic Hypercalcaemia Following the Use of Dissolvable Antibiotic Beads in Infected Total Knee Arthroplasty

  • Surgery
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A Correction to this article was published on 31 January 2020

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Abstract

The gold standard treatment for periprosthetic joint infections is currently a 2-stage revision procedure with the use of antibiotic beads or cement spacer. We report the case of an elderly lady who had an infected total knee replacement and underwent a prosthesis retaining procedure with the use of antibiotic loaded calcium sulphate beads (stimulan in this case). Postoperatively, she became profoundly hypercalcaemic and lethargic. After other causes were excluded, she was taken for surgical washout of the knee joint. This led to prompt normalisation of serum calcium levels and resolution of her symptoms. We recommend the need for routine pre- and postoperative serial calcium measurements when using antibiotic impregnated calcium sulphate beads and that all doctors have an increased awareness of this risk.

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Change history

  • 31 January 2020

    The original article unfortunately contained a mistake. One of the authors, Thomas Fairhead, was not included in the original article.

  • 31 January 2020

    The original article unfortunately contained a mistake. One of the authors, Thomas Fairhead, was not included in the original article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Royal Victoria Infirmary, Queen Victoria Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4LP, UK

    Benjamin L Smith, W. Steven Borland & Thomas Fairhead

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  1. Benjamin L Smith
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  2. W. Steven Borland
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  3. Thomas Fairhead
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I can confirm that all authors were fully involved in the study and preparation of the manuscript and that the material within has not been and will not be submitted for publication elsewhere.

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Correspondence to Benjamin L Smith.

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The original version of this article was revised: Thomas Fairhead is one of the authors but was not included in the article.

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Surgery

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Smith, B.L., Borland, W.S. & Fairhead, T. Symptomatic Hypercalcaemia Following the Use of Dissolvable Antibiotic Beads in Infected Total Knee Arthroplasty. SN Compr. Clin. Med. 2, 246–248 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42399-019-00189-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42399-019-00189-9

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