Percutaneous interface biopsy in dry-aspiration cases of chronic periprosthetic joint infections: a technique for preoperative isolation of the infecting organism.

Abstract

Preoperative identification of the infecting micro-organism is of paramount importance in the treatment protocol for chronic periprosthetic joint infections, as it enables selection of the most appropriate antibiotic treatment. Preoperative joint aspiration, the most commonly used sampling technique, has proven to have a broad range of sensitivity values and the frequency of dry aspirations has not been well assessed. In such dry-tap cases a biopsy sample could be an option. The purpose of this study was to assess the diagnostic accuracy of percutaneous interface biopsy (PIB) in isolating the infecting organism in cases of chronic Periprosthetic Joint Infection (PJI) and dry-tap event. The basic technique is to harvest and culture a sample from the periprosthetic interface membrane by a percutaneous technique in the preoperative period.