Clinical and laboratory predictors for prosthetic joint infection within the first postoperative days following primary total hip and knee arthroplasty

PURPOSE: To identify clinical and laboratory predictors for low- and high-grade prosthetic joint infection (PJI) within the first postoperative days following primary total hip/knee arthroplasty (THA/TKA). METHODS: Institutional bone and joint infection registry of a single osteoarticular infection referral centre was reviewed to identify all osteoarticular infections treated between 2011 and 2021. Among them were 152 consecutive PJI (63 acute high-grade PJI, 57 chronic high-grade PJI, and 32 low-grade PJI) who also had primary THA/TKA performed at the same institution, which were retrospectively analyzed with multivariate logistic regression and covariables. RESULTS: For each additional day of wound discharge, persistent wound drainage (PWD) predicted PJI in the acute high-grade PJI group with odds ratio (OR) 39.4 (p = 0.000, 95%CI 1.171–1.661), in the low-grade PJI group with OR 26.0 (p = 0.045, 95%CI 1.005–1.579), but not in the chronic high-grade PJI group (OR 16.6, p = 0.142, 95%CI 0.950–1.432). The leukocyte count product of pre-surgery and POD2 >100 predicted PJI in the acute high-grade PJI group (OR 2.1, p = 0.025, 95%CI 1.003–1.039) and in the chronic high-grade PJI group (OR 2.0, p = 0.018, 95%CI 1.003–1.036). Similar trend was also seen in the low-grade PJI group, but was not statistically significant (OR 2.3, p = 0.061, 95%CI 0.999–1.048). CONCLUSIONS: The most optimal threshold value for predicting PJI was observed only in the acute high-grade PJI group, where PWD >three days after index surgery yielded 62.9% sensitivity and 90.6% specificity, whereby the leukocyte count product of pre-surgery and POD2 >100 showed 96.9% specificity. Glucose, erythrocytes, hemoglobin, thrombocytes, and CRP showed no significant value in this regard.