Differences in Efficacy between Short- and Long-Course Antibiotic Agents for Joint Prosthesis Infection: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: To evaluate systematically the failure rate of short versus long courses of antibiotic agents for prosthetic joint infections (PJIs). Methods: PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases were searched for controlled studies of short- and long-course antibiotic agents for joint prosthesis infections, all from the time of database creation to April 2022. Literature search, quality evaluation, and data extraction were performed independently by two researchers, and the primary outcome was the rate of surgical failure after antibiotic treatment. Stata 11.0 software was then applied for meta-analysis. Publication bias was assessed using Begg test. Heterogeneity was assessed using the I2 test, and fixed or random effects models were used accordingly. Meta-regression was used to determine the causes of heterogeneity. Results: A total of 14 articles involving 1,971 participants met the inclusion criteria, including 12 observational studies and two randomized controlled trials. Meta-analysis showed no difference between short and long courses of antibiotic agents (relative risk, 1.08; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.89–1.32). The results of the subgroup analysis showed no differences between the failure rates of patients with PJI treated with short and long courses of antibiotic agents in studies with different study areas, different treatment modalities, and different locations of the artificial joints. Conclusions: Patients with PJIs may not require long-term or lifelong antibiotic agents after surgical treatment, and short-term (four to six weeks) antibiotic therapy is usually safe.