: One of the most serious complications of joint replacement is infection in the prosthesis. Return to your orthopedic surgeon and share my concerns with him. I hope that he agrees with me and will obtain a blood culture test. Even better, he could check the fluid around the prosthesis, using a needle and syringe. If the problem is, as I suspect, an infected prosthesis, you will need to have another joint replacement following a lengthy course of antibiotics.