A single intravenous dose of one gram of cefazolin was administered
prophylactically to forty-eight patients undergoing total joint
replacement. The serum half-life of the antibiotic was 1.8 hours, the same
value found in normal volunteers. The mean concentration in bone during
surgery was 5.7 micrograms per gram of bone. The mean concentration in
synovial fluid during surgery was 24.4 micrograms per milliliter of
fluid.