Diagnostic Value of Synovial White Blood Cell Count and Serum C-Reactive Protein for Acute Periprosthetic Joint Infection After Knee Arthroplasty

Background The diagnosis of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) remains difficult, particularly in acute postoperative stage. The purpose of this study was to investigate the optimal cutoff value of synovial white blood cell (WBC) count, percentage of polymorphonuclear cells, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and C-reactive protein (CRP) for diagnosing early postoperative infection after knee joint arthroplasty. Methods We retrospectively reviewed primary total knee arthroplasties and unicompartmental knee arthroplasties, with a knee aspiration within 3 weeks of surgery, from January 2006 to November 2016. Twelve infected cases and 185 uninfected cases met the inclusion criteria of our study. We compared the laboratory parameters (synovial WBC count, percentage of polymorphonuclear cells, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and CRP levels) between the 2 groups. Receiver operating characteristic curves were constructed to determine the optimal cutoff values for each parameter. Each parameter was studied to determine its sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV) in diagnosing acute PJI. Results There were 2 optimal cutoff values for synovial WBC count and CRP levels. With the cutoff value of synovial WBC set at 11,200 cells/μL, acute PJI could be diagnosed with the highest sensitivity (100%) and specificity (98.9%); with the cutoff value set at 16,000 cells/μL, the best PPV and NPV were found (100% and 99.5%, respectively). Similarly, the CRP level >34.9 mg/L had the best sensitivity (100%) and specificity (90.3%), whereas the CRP level >74.5 mg/L had the best PPV (100%) and NPV (99.2%). Conclusion Synovial WBC count and CRP levels are useful in diagnosing acute PJI between 1 and 3 weeks after primary knee arthroplasty.