Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) is a severe complication of total joint arthroplasty with an incidence of approximately 1%. Due to the high risk of persisting infection, successful treatment of fungal PJI is challenging. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the current management of fungal PJI of the hip and, by systematically reviewing the cases published so far, to further improve the medical treatment of this serious complication of total hip arthroplasty. Thus, we conducted a systematic review of the available literature concerning fungal PJI in total hip arthroplasty, including 45 cases of fungal PJI. At the moment a two-stage revision procedure is favorable and there is an ongoing discussion on the therapeutic effect of antifungal drug loaded cement spacers on fungal periprosthetic infections of the hip. Due to the fact that there is rare experience with it, there is urgent need to establish guidelines for the treatment of fungal infections of total hip arthroplasty.
Keywords: fungal periprosthetic infection; joint surgery; total hip arthroplasty.