Clinical classification of periprosthetic joint infection following arthroplasty

Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) is one of the most intractable clinical problems in the field of joint surgery. PJI appears in any period after the arthroplasty and has diverse and complex clinical manifestations.Meanwhile, PJI is hard to recover and often recurrent, which can lead to amputation or even life-threatening injures.For better treatment of PJI, a reasonable clinical classification can help doctors understand the condition of infection quickly, set up the framework of comprehensive assessment, and then make a reasonable treatment option. The clinical classification of PJI is not yet clear enough in the world .There is no doubt that clear clinical stages and types of PJI have great significance in the choice of treatment strategies towards PJI. This review aimed to summarize different clinical classified angles and common clinical classifications of PJI in the literature, explore its rationality and its relationship with the treatment, and provided reference for the clinical classification and treatment strategies. Key words: Joint prosthesis; Infection; Arthroplasty; Classification; Therapeutics