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Sonication provided additional microbiologic information for patients with painful implants
Sonication offered additional microbiologic information for patients with painful implants compared with the use of standard peri-implant culture, according to results. However, investigators noted the use of sonication provided negligible added information for patients with obvious infection.
Researchers identified 146 sonicated metallic orthopedic devices from September 2010 and May 2013 and categorized patients into one of the following three groups for analysis depending on the reason for implant removal: clinical apparent infection; elective implant removal for pain; or routine and aseptic nonunion requiring surgery. Primary study outcome was sonication results, which were considered positive for culture growth if equal to or greater than 20 colony-forming units per plates, according to researchers.
Daniel S. Horwitz
Results showed, of 32 patients with clinical infection, 94% had positive tissue cultures and 6% had negative tissue cultures. Researchers found 59% of patients had positive sonication cultures, which did not identify additional organisms. According to results, 52 of 72 patients who underwent elective implant removal experienced pain. Of these 52 patients with pain, researchers found 10% had positive sonication cultures vs. 0% of the 20 patients who had no pain. Among the 42 patients who underwent nonunion surgery, researchers noted sonication culture results were negative in all patients. – by Casey Tingle
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.