Factors predicting hip joint aspiration yield or "dry taps" in patients with total hip arthroplasty

• Published in: Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research Vol. 17; no. 1; p. 42
• Main Authors: Ong, Justin, Tang, Alex, Rozell, Joshua C, Babb, James S, Schwarzkopf, Ran, Lin, Dana
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 22.01.2022; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Antibiotics; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip - adverse effects; Body mass index; Cell culture; Dry tap; Health aspects; Hip; Hip joint; Hip Joint - diagnostic imaging; Hip Joint - surgery; Hip Prosthesis - adverse effects; Humans; Infection; Joint diseases; Joint replacement surgery; Joint surgery; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Orthopedics; Paracentesis - methods; Patients; Periprosthetic joint infection; Prosthesis-Related Infections - etiology; Retrospective Studies; Saline lavage; Saline Solution; Synovial Fluid; Therapeutic Irrigation - methods; Total hip arthroplasty; Ultrasonic imaging; Saline lavage; Periprosthetic joint infection; Total hip arthroplasty; Dry tap
• DOI: 10.1186/s13018-022-02942-8
• ISSN: 1749-799X

Image-guided joint aspirations used to assist the diagnosis of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) may commonly result in a dry tap-or insufficient fluid for culture and cell count analysis. Dry tap aspirations are painful and invasive for patients and often utilize a subsequent saline lavage to obtain a microbiology sample. Currently, there is a paucity of the literature addressing predictors that could suggest whether a dry tap will occur. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of various factors on "dry tap" occurrence in patients with suspected PJI following total hip arthroplasty (THA). A retrospective review was performed among THA patients suspected for PJI who received image-guided joint aspiration procedures at our institution from May 2016 to February 2020. The procedural factors included the imaging modality used for aspiration, anatomic approach, needle gauge size used, and the presence of a trainee. The patient-specific factors included number of prior ipsilateral hip surgeries, femoral head size, ESR/CRP values, and BMI. In total, 336 patients met our inclusion criteria. One hundred and twenty hip aspirations resulted in a dry tap (35.7%) where the patients underwent a saline lavage. Among the procedural and patient-specific factors, none of the factors were found to be statistically different between the two cohorts nor conferred any greater odds of a dry tap occurring. No associations with dry tap occurrence were found among the procedural and patient-specific factors studied. Further research is needed to identify additional factors that may be more predictive of dry taps.