Several infected Wounds & Joints are common in hospital patients due to their comorbidities (two or more diseases in a patient) and facility-specific, nosocomial (originating in the hospital) infectious agents and MDROs. Risk factors for these infections include chronic lymphedema (abnormal lymph accumulation), peripheral vascular disease or PVD, peripheral nerve damage (neuropathy), diabetes, immunodeficiency, bacteremia (bacteria in the blood), chronic kidney disease, obesity, drug or alcohol use, and advanced age.
Native and prosthetic joint infections alike are especially problematic, particularly when immunodeficiency or MDROs are involved. Work-ups common to both wound and joint infections include blood and wound cultures, typical labs like CBC (complete blood count) with differential, basic metabolic panel (BMP), and inflammatory markers such as ESR and CRP labs.
Especially important in joint infections, particularly hardware infections, is getting orthopedics involved early in the infectious process. Infected hardware will almost exclusively not heal with just antibiotics. Ortho typically will have to remove the hardware and either reimplant hardware or temporarily implant antibiotic-impregnated spacers with the goal of eventual hardware reimplantation.
Symptoms of Infected Wounds:
- Open skin/wound erythema (redness), edema (swelling), warmth, or tenderness
- Red streaks from infected wound following the lymphatics
- Purulent drainage (pus)
- Fever, chills, or sweating
Symptoms of Infected Joints:
- Joint pain, warmth, or erythema
- Joint effusion or swelling
- Fever, chills, or sweating
- Induration (skin hardening) or drainage at incision site after surgery
If you would like to learn more about how IDS specialists can help you or your facility with diagnosis and treatment of infected wounds and joints, request an appointment today online or call (833) 967-2464.
