After 2105 silicone prosthetic arthroplasties in the hands of 631
patients, infections occurred in ten. The average time from operation to
onset of signs and symptoms of infection was seventeen days, and in seven
of the ten patients the infecting organism was Staphylococcus aureus. Seven
patients ultimately were treated by removal of the prosthesis, intravenous
antibiotics for about five days, and oral antibiotics for about two weeks.
At follow-up, twelve to fifty-six months after operation, nearly all of the
patients had stable, somewhat stiff but pain-free joints, the results being
similar to those after resection arthroplasty.