Javad Parvizi

Zero infections? That was the topic of my lecture at the 6th Carlofortho Meeting in Sardinia. Tough question. Human body has over 100 trillion microbes. One million microbes per cm of skin alone! There is no way we can “sterilize” the skin or the human body. So microbes will always be there during surgery. Maybe we can pay more attention to the role that microbiome plays in causing infections! The science of microbiome is fascinating and as we learn more, we realize how little we know. Future is very exciting. Will we get to zero infections? Maybe not but we definitely need to try.

What is the optimal antibiotic prophylaxis for patients undergoing primary TJA?
This was the subject of discussions today when I delivered a grand round lecture at Basiksehir Hospital. One of the biggest hospitals in Europe. The conclusions were that there is no “single” prophylaxis protocol. But there are multiple ongoing studies including one in the US lead by Thorsten Seyler, that evaluates one dose versus three doses of perioperative prophylaxis. Although the final analysis is awaited, it looks like all we may need to give these patients is a single dose! No more than 24 hours anyway. Oh, did you know that antibiotic alters the microbiome of the gut and based on an animal study from Hospital For Special Surgery may increase the risk for PJI?

Revision, Revision and More Revision.
I attended the inaugural THE Revision Knee Meeting(RKM) in Antwerp. Two days of intensive discussions and learning. Eight hours of case discussions per day and total audience engagement. As usual learnt a lot from my friends. Congratulations to Emmanuel Thienpont and the EUROPEAN KNEE SOCIETY.