Is aseptic loosening (AL) associated with an undiagnosed periprosthetic joint infections (PJIs)?

Authors: Juan C. Martinez Pastor, Derek Amanatullah, Stuart Goodman, Ester Garcia Oltra, Marta Sabater Martos, Jake A. Mooney
RECOMMENDATION: Some percentage of AL is due to culture-negative infection, since up to 10% of culture-negative cases contain bacteria when screened by molecular methods. Whether this correlates to an undiagnosed infection causing AL remains unclear. Understanding this issue is limited by the ability of bacterial culture to function as an effective gold standard for detecting infection. The role of molecular techniques such as next generation sequencing in this setting needs to be explored.
LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Limited
DELEGATE VOTE: Agree: 90%, Disagree: 8%, Abstain: 2% (Super Majority, Strong Consensus)