SYNOVIAL LEUKOCYTE ESTERASE, GLUCOSE AND C-REACTIVE PROTEIN IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF BONE AND JOINT INFECTIONS

Culture examination is still considered the gold standard for diagnosis of bone and joint infections, including prosthetic ones, even if in up to 20–30% of cases, particularly prosthetic joint infections, it fails to yield microbial growth. To overcome this limitation, determination of markers of inflammation and or infection directly in joint fluid has been proposed.Aim of this study was to evaluate the applicability of measurement of lecukocyte esterase (LE), C-reactive protein (CRP) and glucose in synovial fluid for diagnosis of bone and joint infections.Synovial fluids from 80 patients were aseptically collected and sent to laboratory for microbiological cultures. After centrifugation at 3000 rpm for 10 minutes, pellet was used for cultures, while the surnatant was used for determination of LE, CRP and glucose. LE and glucose were evaluated by means of enzymatic colorimetric strips developed for urinanalysis. One drop of synovial fluid was placed on the LE and on the glucose pads and the results were ...