Covering of wound infection in hip arthroplasty with local cutaneous flaps.

Total hip arthroplasty is a very common procedure to treat osteoarthritis. One of the complication is the infection which occurs in about 1% of the cases. The manifestation of infection can be poor wound healing with dehiscence and exposition of bone or prosthetic components. Hip arthroplasty infections are difficult to treat. It required an associated multidisciplinary approach with infectiology, orthopedic and plastic surgeries. The study included five patients with hip wound dehiscence after total hip arthroplasty. Coverage after orthopedic surgery was provided by local cutaneous flap. These cutaneous flaps were either a deep inferior epigastric perforator flap (DIEP) or a transposition flap. The orthopedic and the plastic treatment were done at the same time. Two deep inferior epigastric flaps were performed for patients with a deep defect with bone or prosthesis exposure. Four transposition flaps were done in three patients with wound dehiscence but without direct contact with the prosthesis. Three transposition flaps were done from the abdominal wall and one from the posterior thigh. The mean follow up was 18 months, ranging from 10 to 24months. After healing, there was no recurrence of the infection. In all cases, the coverage was obtained. The prosthesis was salvage and the gait was possible. Cutaneous flaps are easy and safe to cover the hip. They are reliable flaps even in patients with multiple co-morbidities. They do not cause sequelae on the recipient site. This study is the first about cutaneous flap for covering hip defects in hip arthroplasty infections.