title: Intraoperative frozen section for detecting active infection in failed hip and knee arthroplasties.
abstract: The authors reported the result of 40 sessions of intraoperative frozen section on polymorph count in 33 patients undergoing exploration or revision hip and knee surgery to detect active infection. The correlation rate between frozen section and permanent section was 0.95 to 1.00. If the polymorph count more than 5 per high-power field (40 X) was chosen as positive, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value would be 0.93, 0.77, 0.68, and 0.95, respectively. Taking polymorph count of more than 10 as positive, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value would then be 0.86, 0.85, 0.75, and 0.92, respectively. The authors concluded that intraoperative frozen section is an inexpensive, rapid, and helpful adjunct to detect active infection. A polymorph count of lower than 5 highly suggests the absence of active infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Yan Chai Hospital, Tsuen Wan, New Territories, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Yiu-Chung
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Qun-Jid
authors.initials: QJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Yuk-Leung
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Wai
authors.forename: Wai-Fu
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Ng
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019644:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip; D019645:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee; D005260:Female; D005629:Frozen Sections; D006801:Humans; D007432:Intraoperative Period; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011475:Prosthesis Failure; D016459:Prosthesis-Related Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D012086:Reoperation; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity