Blood Cultures for Evaluation of Early Postoperative Fever after Femoral Neck Fracture Surgery
Purpose. To evaluate the utility of blood cultures in the assessment of early postoperative fever in hip fracture patients with no other indicators of sepsis. Methods. 101 blood cultures were drawn on postoperative days 0 to 5 to investigate 84 febrile episodes in 31 women and 30 men (mean age, 80 y...
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2012-12-01
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Series: | Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/230949901202000314 |
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doaj-d2e11ffc17b9431a89fd76e5e1b20ce72020-11-25T03:15:36ZengSAGE PublishingJournal of Orthopaedic Surgery2309-49902012-12-012010.1177/230949901202000314Blood Cultures for Evaluation of Early Postoperative Fever after Femoral Neck Fracture SurgeryBrahman Sivakumar0Praveen Vijaysegaran1Michael Ottley2Ross Crawford3Christopher Coulter4 Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, The Prince Charles Hospital, Chermside, Australia Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, The Prince Charles Hospital, Chermside, Australia Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, The Prince Charles Hospital, Chermside, Australia Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering, School Of Engineering Systems, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia Northside Pathology, Pathology Queensland, The Prince Charles Hospital, Chermside, AustraliaPurpose. To evaluate the utility of blood cultures in the assessment of early postoperative fever in hip fracture patients with no other indicators of sepsis. Methods. 101 blood cultures were drawn on postoperative days 0 to 5 to investigate 84 febrile episodes in 31 women and 30 men (mean age, 80 years) whose body temperature measured via the tympanic route was ≥38°C. Culture results of these 61 patients were divided into culture-positive and culture-negative groups for comparison. Results. Of the 101 blood cultures, only 2 were positive: one was obtained 5 days after dynamic hip screw fixation, and the other 4 days after hemiarthroplasty. Both blood cultures grew coagulase-negative staphylococcal species, which were deemed to be skin contaminants not requiring change of patient management. 44 of these patients were treated with oral or intravenous antibiotics for a period of time. Conclusion. The risk of bacteraemia in patients with postoperative fever but no other symptoms of infection is low. Routine procurement of blood cultures in such patients is ineffective and of limited utility.https://doi.org/10.1177/230949901202000314 |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Brahman Sivakumar Praveen Vijaysegaran Michael Ottley Ross Crawford Christopher Coulter |
spellingShingle |
Brahman Sivakumar Praveen Vijaysegaran Michael Ottley Ross Crawford Christopher Coulter Blood Cultures for Evaluation of Early Postoperative Fever after Femoral Neck Fracture Surgery Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery |
author_facet |
Brahman Sivakumar Praveen Vijaysegaran Michael Ottley Ross Crawford Christopher Coulter |
author_sort |
Brahman Sivakumar |
title |
Blood Cultures for Evaluation of Early Postoperative Fever after Femoral Neck Fracture Surgery |
title_short |
Blood Cultures for Evaluation of Early Postoperative Fever after Femoral Neck Fracture Surgery |
title_full |
Blood Cultures for Evaluation of Early Postoperative Fever after Femoral Neck Fracture Surgery |
title_fullStr |
Blood Cultures for Evaluation of Early Postoperative Fever after Femoral Neck Fracture Surgery |
title_full_unstemmed |
Blood Cultures for Evaluation of Early Postoperative Fever after Femoral Neck Fracture Surgery |
title_sort |
blood cultures for evaluation of early postoperative fever after femoral neck fracture surgery |
publisher |
SAGE Publishing |
series |
Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery |
issn |
2309-4990 |
publishDate |
2012-12-01 |
description |
Purpose. To evaluate the utility of blood cultures in the assessment of early postoperative fever in hip fracture patients with no other indicators of sepsis. Methods. 101 blood cultures were drawn on postoperative days 0 to 5 to investigate 84 febrile episodes in 31 women and 30 men (mean age, 80 years) whose body temperature measured via the tympanic route was ≥38°C. Culture results of these 61 patients were divided into culture-positive and culture-negative groups for comparison. Results. Of the 101 blood cultures, only 2 were positive: one was obtained 5 days after dynamic hip screw fixation, and the other 4 days after hemiarthroplasty. Both blood cultures grew coagulase-negative staphylococcal species, which were deemed to be skin contaminants not requiring change of patient management. 44 of these patients were treated with oral or intravenous antibiotics for a period of time. Conclusion. The risk of bacteraemia in patients with postoperative fever but no other symptoms of infection is low. Routine procurement of blood cultures in such patients is ineffective and of limited utility. |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1177/230949901202000314 |
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