Antimicrobial Barrier Dressing Versus Closed-incision Negative Pressure Therapy in the Obese Primary Total Joint Arthroplasty

Antimicrobial Barrier Dressing Versus Closed-incision Negative Pressure Therapy in the Obese Primary Total Joint Arthroplasty

The purpose of this study is to determine whether an occlusive antimicrobial barrier dressing or portable negative pressure wound dressing is superior in preventing wound complications and infection rates in obese patients undergoing total joint arthroplasty (TJA). Approximately 240 subjects (120 for total knee arthroplasty and 120 for total hip arthroplasty) will be enrolled to evaluate the outcomes associated with silver impregnated dressings and negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) in treating this subset of patients and analyze the cost benefit of each.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Those identified at pre-operative testing to have an elevated BMI (> 35)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Active infection
• previous scar or wound healing complication
• post traumatic degenerative joint disease (DJD) with hardware
• revision surgery
• inflammatory arthritis
• anticoagulation outside of the standard of care.