Information for Medical Professionals

Intraoperative Gram stains 'play little role in knee replacement'

Intraoperative Gram stains have no effect on revisions in total knee replacement procedures, new research claims.

A study printed in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery claims Gram stains are routinely performed during knee replacement surgeries to help make an accurate pre-operative diagnosis of infection.

Researchers retrospectively reviewed records of 745 knee replacement operations, of which intraoperative Gram stains were used in 97.5 per cent of them.

The report said: "The intraoperative Gram stain was found to have poor sensitivity and a poor negative predictive value, and its results did not alter the treatment of any patient undergoing revision total knee arthroplasty because of a suspected infection."

It was concluded that such techniques should have a "much more limited role" in total knee replacement procedures.

Separate research in the same journal claims that the grade of osteoarthritis in over 50s can indicate the future need for hip replacement surgery.

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