The accuracy of D-dimer in the diagnosis of periprosthetic infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) is a devastating complication after total hip arthroplasty (THA) or total knee arthroplasty (TKA). It is scarce and contradicting evidence supporting the use of serum D-dimer to diagnose PJI in revision THA and TKA. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the accuracy of D-dimer in the diagnosis of periprosthetic infections. METHODS: The PubMed, Embase, Web of Science were systematically searched from the inception dates to August 15, 2020. We included all diagnostic studies of D-dimer in the diagnosis of periprosthetic infections. The literature's quality was evaluated by the QUADAS-2 tool, and Stata16 and Revman5.3 software carried out the meta-analysis. RESULTS: Of 115 citations identified by the search strategy, 10 studies (comprising 1756 participants) met the inclusion criteria. The literature quality assessment results show that most of the literature is low-risk bias literature. The combined sensitivity of D-dimer in diagnosing periprosthetic infections was 0.81 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.71–0.88), combined specificity was 0.74 (95% CI 0.61–0.84), combined positive likelihood ratio was 3.1 (95% CI 2.0–5.0), combined negative likelihood ratio 0.26 (95% CI 0.16–0.41), combined diagnosis odds ratio 12 (95% CI 5–27), area under the Summary Receiver Operator Characteristic Curve (SROC) is 0.85 (95% CI 0.81–0.88). The data are statistically significant. CONCLUSION: D-dimer has a high diagnostic value in diagnosing PJI and has clinical significance in diagnosing periprosthetic infection. In addition, there are relatively few studies on the threshold of D-dimer, different sampling types, different laboratory detection methods, and different races, so more prospective trials with large samples, multi-centers, and scientific design should be carried out in the future. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13018-022-03001-y.