Prevalence and Outcomes of Unexpected Positive Cultures in Presumed Aseptic Revision Total Hip Arthroplasty
Abstract
Introduction: Periprosthetic infection rates are sometimes underestimated, as many cases of presumed aseptic failure may be due to unrecognized infection. The objectives of the present study of aseptic revision THA were: (1) to estimate the prevalence of unexpected positive intraoperative cultures; (2) to determine if any of the patient’s comorbidities or risk factors were related to the presence of unexpected positive cultures; (3) to determine the implant survival during the follow-up of at least 12 months. Methods: A retrospective and observational study was carried out where, through electronic medical records, all revisions total hip arthroplasty (THA) from a single institution between 2014 and 2021 were identified. Results: Of the 49 revisions THA in 1 time, 9 patients (18.4%) had an unexpected positive culture. The isolated microorganisms were Staphylococcus aureus (3), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (1), Staphylococcus lugdunensis (1), Staphylococcus epidermidis (2), Staphylococcus haemolyticus (1), Streptococcus epidermidis (1). In addition, when we evaluated the comorbidities of the patients, none had statistical significance in favoring unexpected positive cultures in aseptic revisions. We found out that 2% of our sample with a follow-up period of 49 months developed reinfection. Conclusion: Our study showed a prevalence of unexpected positive cultures of 18.4%. None of the risk factors reported in the literature was associated with a higher risk of unexpected positive cultures in these aseptic check-ups, except for high ESR values. Our findings suggest that unexpected positive cultures in presumably aseptic reviews do not have significant consequences on implant survival, as found in the literature.Downloads
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