The Value of Bacterial Culture During Clean Orthopedic Surgery a Prospective Study of 1,036 Patients

Abstract

AbstractObjective:To determine whether bacterial cultures of the wounds of patients undergoing clean orthopedic surgery would help predict infection.Methods:During 1 year, 1,256 cultures were performed for 1,102 patients who underwent clean orthopedic surgery. Results were analyzed to evaluate their ability to predict postoperative infection.Results:The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the cultures were 38%, 92%, 7%, and 99%, respectively.Conclusions:Cultures performed during clean orthopedic surgery were not useful for predicting postoperative infection.