Introduction: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of intra-articular vancomycin powder in reducing prosthetic joint infections (PJIs) in primary hip and knee arthroplasty through a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs).
Methods: A research in Pubmed, Embase and Cochrane databases was performed to identify randomized clinical trials comparing intra-articular vancomycin use to conventional antibiotic prophylaxis in total hip or knee arthroplasty patients, assessing postoperative infection rates, adverse drug reactions, and venous thrombotic events. Statistical analysis was performed using R (RStudio 2024.04.2), and heterogeneity was assessed with the I2 test.
Results: A total of 1485 patients from five randomized clinical trials were included, with 737 receiving intra-articular vancomycin. The infection rate was 0.54 % in the intervention group and 1.73 % in the control group (RR 0.37; 95 % CI 0.02-8.95; p = 0.369; I2 = 49 %), showing no statistically significant difference between the groups. Adverse reactions to the glycopeptide were reported in six cases (0.8 %) in the intervention group compared to four cases (0.5 %) in the control group (RR 1.50; 95 % CI 1.50-150; p = 0.001; I2 = 0 %). Regarding thrombotic events, there was one case in 647 patients in the intervention group and three cases in 660 patients in the control group (RR 0.45; 95 % CI 0.03-7.02; p = 0.169; I2 = 0 %).
Conclusion: Although no significant difference was found, the intervention group showed a trend toward lower infection rates. Additional RCTs with larger sample sizes are required to confirm these findings.
Trial registration: The prospective registration of the meta-analysis was conducted on PROSPERO in July 2024 with the protocol number 565988.
Keywords: Hip arthroplasties; Knee arthroplasties; Prosthetic joint infection; Vancomycin.
© 2024 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Professor P K Surendran Memorial Education Foundation.