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Microbiological Diagnosis of Prosthetic Joint Infection

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Infected Total Joint Arthroplasty

Abstract

Diagnosis of Prosthetic Joint Infection is still a complex matter in clinical practice. Syndromic diagnosis includes the presence of several symptoms and signs together with the use of a combination of different techniques, including image analysis, biochemical markers and intraoperatory histopatology. Microbiological diagnosis is an essential part of this process, because it allows selection of the best possible antibiotic therapy, and even orients the surgical management and the potential outcome of the patient in some cases. Cultures of synovial fluids, periprosthetic tissues and implant sonication are the commonly recommended techniques, and a combination of these techniques allows reaching an etiologic diagnosis in most cases. However, rapid diagnosis is still a problem, because the lack of sensitivity and specificity of Gram stain of surgical products.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bone and Joint Infection Unit, Department of Clinical Microbiology, IIS-Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Av. Reyes Católicos 2, Madrid, 28040, Spain

    Jaime Esteban M.D., Ph.D., Concepción Pérez-Jorge & Ramón Pérez-Tanoira

  2. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology, Hospital “La Paz”, Paseo de la Castellana 261, Madrid, 28046, Spain

    Enrique Gómez-Barrena M.D., Ph.D.

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  1. Jaime Esteban M.D., Ph.D.
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  2. Concepción Pérez-Jorge
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Correspondence to Enrique Gómez-Barrena M.D., Ph.D. .

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  1. Orthopedic Hospital Valdoltra, Ankaran, 6280, Koper, Slovenia

    Rihard Trebše

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Esteban, J., Pérez-Jorge, C., Pérez-Tanoira, R., Gómez-Barrena, E. (2012). Microbiological Diagnosis of Prosthetic Joint Infection. In: Trebše, R. (eds) Infected Total Joint Arthroplasty. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-2482-5_17

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