False-positive Cultures After Native Knee Aspiration: True or False.

CONCLUSIONS: Our study would indicate that when done properly under sterile technique, cultures taken from knee arthrocentesis in patients without prosthetic joints should not be affected by perceived contaminant species. A positive specimen finding on culture should raise a strong suspicion of bacterial septic arthritis. Future studies should include more specimens as well as knees with prior TKA to help further identify the rate of false-positive cultures in knee arthrocentesis in both populations.
LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level I, diagnostic study.
PMID: 27942968 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Source: Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research - December 8, 2016 Category: Orthopaedics Authors: Jennings JM, Dennis DA, Kim RH, Miner TM, Yang CC, McNabb DC Tags: Clin Orthop Relat Res Source Type: research