Evaluation of the Role for Synovial Aspiration in the Diagnosis of Aseptic Loosening After Total Knee Arthroplasty

Conclusions:
Although synovial fluid aspirates in patients with aseptic loosening and those with normal total knee arthroplasties did not differ, synovial fluid aspirate characteristics differed among categories of aseptic failure. As a result, the optimal diagnosis of periprosthetic infection on the basis of synovial aspiration results may need to utilize different cutoff values depending on the alternative mode of failure being considered. Large prospective studies will be necessary to validate these threshold values.

Level of Evidence:
Diagnostic Level II. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Source: The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery - October 7, 2015 Category: Orthopaedics Authors: Chalmers, P. N., Walton, D., Sporer, S. M., Levine, B. R. Tags: Knee Scientific Articles Source Type: research