Antibiotic delivery system and method for treating an infected synovial joint during re-implantation of an orthopedic prosthesis

1. An antibiotic delivery system comprising:

a femoral intramedullary stem adapted to be removably mounted into a medullary canal of a femur bone, said femoral intramedullary stem including a body having a proximate end and a distal end disposed remote from said proximate end, said body including a plurality of fins extending therealong and disposed in spaced angular relationship with respect to each other so as to define valleys that provide fluid flow spaces disposed between adjacent fins, said fins adapted to engage said medullary canal in a removably stable fashion, a femoral head and a neck extending from said proximal end of said body and between said body and said femoral head, said femoral intramedullary stem including at least one inlet, and a plurality of outlets disposed along said stem and between an outer surface of one of said plurality of adjacent fins in said valleys and in fluid communication with said fluid flow spaces and a channel extending between said inlet and said plurality of outlets, said femoral head having a plurality of outlets and a channel extending between said at least one inlet and said plurality of outlets for delivering fluid-borne antibiotics from said at least one inlet to said plurality of outlets so as to distribute said antibiotic along said intramedullary canal and the socket of a hip joint in a controlled fashion.

2. An antibiotic delivery system as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said body includes an inlet and said femoral head includes an inlet, both inlets being in fluid communication with a source of fluid-borne antibiotic.

3. An antibiotic delivery system as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said femoral head has a hemispherical shape so as to be complimentarily received in the socket of a hip joint.

4. A method of treating an infected joint during a two-stage re-implantation of an orthopedic implant, said method comprising the steps of: removing the infected implants mounted to the medullary canal of a bone; debriding the medullary canal; installing an intramedullary stem into the medullary canal where the stem includes an inlet, a plurality of outlets and a channel extending between the inlet and the plurality of outlets; said stem including a plurality of fins extending along a longitudinal axis of the stem and disposed in spaced angular relationship with respect to each other so as to define valleys that provide fluid flow spaces disposed between adjacent fins and a plurality of outlets disposed along said stem and between an outer surface of one of said plurality of adjacent fins in said valleys and in fluid communication with said fluid flow spaces providing a source of fluid-borne antibiotic to the inlet of the intramedullary stem so as to distribute the antibiotic into the medullary canal in a controlled fashion.

5. A method of treating an infected orthopedic implant as set forth in claim 4 , wherein said step of installing an intramedullary stem includes installing a tibial intramedullary stem into the medullary canal of the tibia bone and installing a femoral intramedullary stem into the medullary canal of a femur bone.

6. A method of treating an infected orthopedic implant as set forth in claim 5 , wherein the method further includes the step of positioning a coupler between the tibial intramedullary stem and the femoral intramedullary stem so as to provide axial stability between the tibial and femoral intramedullary stems.

7. A method of treating an infected orthopedic implant as set forth in claim 6 , wherein the method further includes the step of establishing fluid communication between the coupler and the inlet of the tibial and femoral intramedullary stems and providing fluid communication between the coupler and a source of fluid-borne antibiotic so as to distribute the antibiotic through the tibial and femoral intramedullary stems and along the medullary canals in a controlled fashion.