The purpose of this study was to report, on 3cases of septic arthritis of the shoulder joint using antibiotic loaded acryl cement. We reviewed three patients with septic arthritis of the shoulder joint who had had operative treatment with antibiotic loaded acryl cement beads and rods from 2003 to 2004. They consisted of 2 males and 1 female with a mean age was 67.7 years old (range 59-73). Two cases had an underlying disease, the other case had an injection before the symptoms had developed.

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... eptococcus aureus was cultured in 2 cases and streptococcus agalactiae was cultured in 1 case. All patients were treated with antibiotic loaded acryl cement (antibiotic 2 or 3g / cement 40g) beads and rods to fill up the dead cavity caused by synovectomy of the shoulder joint and resection of the humeral head. After the infections had been resolved, a second operation was perfomed on the humeral head prosthetic replacement using antibiotic loaded acryl cement (antibiotic 1 or 2g / cement 40g). In all the cases infections were resolved after treatment using antibiotic loaded cement. A case without a cuff tear got good range of motion of the shoulder after hemi-arthroplasty. We treated with resection of antibiotic loaded acryl cement in three cases of refractory septic arthoritis of the shoulder. In all the cases, the CRP was negative. We believe that this method is useful treatment of refractory septic arthoritis of the shoulder.