What is the risk of infection for revision surgeries?

[Frenchie]

The risk for first time implant is usually mentioned here about 1-2% and sometimes lower for world class surgeons but for revisions only think I know is that it is higher but by how much higher? Any data on this?

I think this is the main worry for a young guy who has to face multiple revisions in the future. I am sure that if no infection occurs a decent surgeon can put 10 implants there in your lifetime but when an infection occurs things start to get complicated

[Hillywilly]

The risk for first time implant is usually mentioned here about 1-2% and sometimes lower for world class surgeons but for revisions only think I know is that it is higher but by how much higher? Any data on this?

I think this is the main worry for a young guy who has to face multiple revisions in the future. I am sure that if no infection occurs a decent surgeon can put 10 implants there in your lifetime but when an infection occurs things start to get complicated

A quick search of the literature I found 7-18% risk of infection with revisions. However, 50% of IPP's are performed by surgeons that do less than 10 a year....

Hakky told me his revision infection rate is 3% I'm sure you get similar rates with the experts.

[phliptrip]

The risk for first time implant is usually mentioned here about 1-2% and sometimes lower for world class surgeons but for revisions only think I know is that it is higher but by how much higher? Any data on this?

I think this is the main worry for a young guy who has to face multiple revisions in the future. I am sure that if no infection occurs a decent surgeon can put 10 implants there in your lifetime but when an infection occurs things start to get complicated

The ball park I was told was "generally double the infection rate for revision surgeries vs initial implant."

[Gt1956]

Please be carefull quoting studies on stuff like infections. They can be what are called trailing statistics. Meaning that the data has been gathered perhaps years before the study is published.
In the last few years there has been large improvements in infection controls that are not reflected in the study.
One touch surgery, bathing with Hebclens, urine cultures looking for bacteria prior to surgery, antibiotic coated implants, IV antibiotics administered during surgery & a high dose antiboitic for the 24 hours after surgery. And surprisingly, my dr maintains to get you out of the hospital as quickly as is reasonably possible. The average hospital is a hot bed of bacteria.
Two different members of my drs staff told me that he seldom gets an infection. They both mentioned that the last one was last fall with a patient that was in poor condition.
Considering that he does 200/250 implants a year. I think his infection rate is well below the 1-2% that is frequently quoted.
Get to know your dr & a few of his key people. They can be a goldmine of info.

[woodturner]

The risk of infection for revision surgeries is 10% is it is an inflatable.
I did get infected after my first revision. They put a malleable in as a temporary replacement for 5 months.
They wanted me fully recovered. They told me I could keep the malleable if I wanted to.
The malleable isn't all that bad but I prefer the inflatable. Five days ago the malleable was removed and a new inflatable was installed.
Only time will tell If I avoided infection this time. The surgeon was a lot more upset about the infection than I was.
This last time they took a couple of extra precautions that aren't normally done.

[merrix]

I was communicating with Eid a few months ago about my potential need for a revision due to my pump not working 100% well.
According to him, based on the population of his 5000 implant surgeries, his infection rates are 0.5% for virgin implant and 0.9% for revision.
But that's Eid. Your local hacker will have higher numbers.
Roughly double the risk for revision is a good ballpark.

[nuance]

Do Clavell/Hakky post their infection numbers?

[Eloquent]

There is a medical a paper by prof. Wilson which states that with more revisions the infection risk goes up and the odds exponentiate.

He mentioned that with 4th revision (5th implant) the risk of infection is nearly 100%. But there were very few men in with a lot of revisions in the study and I believe these cases were redos from other surgeons and/or infections.

[nuance]

I believe the sample size was tiny in that study.

[newbie443]

The risk for first time implant is usually mentioned here about 1-2% and sometimes lower for world class surgeons but for revisions only think I know is that it is higher but by how much higher? Any data on this?

I think this is the main worry for a young guy who has to face multiple revisions in the future. I am sure that if no infection occurs a decent surgeon can put 10 implants there in your lifetime but when an infection occurs things start to get complicated

Just my point of view on this. So you have a choice. Keep things as they are now. Or roll the dice. Chances are really good in your favor on this but even the best doctors do have infection rates. Just like you could drop dead after reading this. I would say to go for it. But I do not know your background and it is a choice each of us will make.

Last thing to consider is that not only have there been advances since many of the studies had collected data, but there will be more advances in the future. Say your first 2-3 implants last 10 years each you are talking about 20-30 years of medical advances. I would think the information you want is not going to be available for a long time.