Late infections of the hip joint: Resection arthroplasty and other solutions

Resection arthroplasty is an acceptable treatment option for an infected hip prosthesis. The operation was described in the literature as a treatment for other pathologic hip conditions long before arthroplasty was a common procedure. It gained popularity as a treatment for infected hip pros- theses shortly thereafter and was considered a more necessary intervention before the proliferation of antibiotics and reconstruction implants and techniques available today. The historical perspective, surgical technique, current indications and results are described in this chapter. Also, alternatives to resection arthroplasty, other than hip joint reconstruction, are discussed, including chronic antibiotic suppression with component retention and amputation.