# Radial Head Antibiotic Spacer for the Treatment of Prosthetic Joint Infection Following a Radial Head Arthroplasty: A Case Report

## TL;DR

This case report describes a new method using a PMMA spacer to treat a rare infection after radial head replacement surgery.

## Contribution

The paper introduces a novel PMMA spacer construct for treating radial head prosthetic joint infection via two-stage revision.

## Key findings

- A novel PMMA spacer was successfully used in a two-stage revision for radial head prosthetic joint infection.
- The spacer maintained structural integrity for four months in the patient.
- This approach may offer a new treatment option for radial head prosthetic joint infections.

## Abstract

Prosthetic joint infection (PJI) following radial head arthroplasty (RHA) is a rare, yet devastating complication. Current treatment options for PJI comprise debridement, antibiotics, and implant retention (DAIR); resection arthroplasty; and one- or two-stage revision. Two-stage revision is the current gold standard for the treatment of PJI at the hip, shoulder, and knee, and involves using an antibiotic spacer to maintain limb length and soft tissue tension. Despite the widespread use of this technique in the treatment of PJI at other sites, its use in the treatment of RHA PJI has not been described. In this report, we illustrate the use of a novel polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) spacer construct for the treatment of RHA PJI by the two-stage revision in a male patient. This method shows promising results, with the spacer maintaining structural integrity for four months.