Targeted Swabbing of Implant-Associated Biofilm Formation—A Staining-Guided Sampling Approach for Optimizing Routine Microbiological Diagnostics

Background: Swabbing of implants removed from potentially infected sites represents a time saving and ubiquitously applicable alternative to sonication approaches. The latter bears an elevated risk of processing related contaminations due to the high number of handling steps. Since biofilms are usually invisible to the naked eye, adequate swabbing relies on the chance of hitting the colonized area on the implant. A targeted directed swabbing approach could overcome this detriment. Method: Three dyes were tested at different concentrations for their toxicity on biofilm-associated cells of S. epidermidis, the species most frequently identified as a causative agent of implant-associated infections. Results: Malachite green (0.2%) delivered the highest bacterial recovery rates combined with the best results in biofilm visualization. Its suitability for diagnostic approaches was demonstrated for smooth and rough implant surfaces. Biofilm-covered areas were successfully visualized. Conclusion: Subsequent targeted swab-sampling resulted in a significantly increased bacterial recovery rate compared to a dye-free “random swabbing” diagnostic approach.