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Going For Knee Revision Surgery. Bone Scan Indicated Elevation In One Of The 2 Blood Markers. Still There Be An Infection?
Question: I am going to have knee revision surgery in a few weeks. This is due to pain and swelling. I have had a bone scan that indicates a problem and one of the 2 blood markers is elevated. In addition the fluid removed from my knee was very cloudy. My question is, can there still be an infection in my knee even though the culture came back negative?
Hi XXXXX,
Welcome to healthcare Magic!
The cultures are a good option for detecting infection and managing them but with some limited utility.
The culture can be falsely negative in about 405 of cases that is the patient will have bacteria to cause infection but it would not grow in culture. This is particularly true when you have taken an antibiotic course recently.
Other auxiliary tests can help like Total leukocyte counts in blood, ESR and procalcitonin levels and a repeat culture test.
I hope the advise would be informative and useful for you.
Take Care!
Welcome to healthcare Magic!
The cultures are a good option for detecting infection and managing them but with some limited utility.
The culture can be falsely negative in about 405 of cases that is the patient will have bacteria to cause infection but it would not grow in culture. This is particularly true when you have taken an antibiotic course recently.
Other auxiliary tests can help like Total leukocyte counts in blood, ESR and procalcitonin levels and a repeat culture test.
I hope the advise would be informative and useful for you.
Take Care!
Note: For further queries, consult a joint and bone specialist, an Orthopaedic surgeon. Book a Call now.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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