Increased Diagnostic Certainty of Periprosthetic Joint Infections by Combining Microbiological Results with Histopathological Samples Gained via a Minimally Invasive Punching Technique.

The diagnosis of PJI is complex. One single method to reliably detect an infection is currently not available. With the present method histopathological samples might be obtained quickly, easily and safely for the preoperative detection of PJI. A combination of microbiological and histopathological sampling increases the sensitivity up to 18.5% to detect periprosthetic infection.