ARTICLE SUMMARY:
The patient who develops a knee implant infection is likely to face several repeat surgeries within five years, during which the surgeon enters the joint to aggressively debride the implant and administer antibiotics, and, frequently, to remove the implant. Solenic offers a repeatable, noninvasive method of infection control through the application of thermal energy generated by alternating magnetic fields.
Prosthetic joint infections [PJIs], the number one cause of failed joint implants, are the scourge of the orthopedic specialty. The treatment of PJI’s costs the US healthcare system about $2.2 billion annually. Despite these high costs, success rates, in terms of trying to save the original implant, average about 50%.
These infections, which can occur any time after surgery—within a month, a year, even 20 years—are notoriously difficult to treat because surgeons are often dealing with an immunocompromised population—people with diabetes, obesity, or cancer—and biofilms that form on the implant.
