A study of pre-operative presence of micro-organisms in affected knee joints of rheumatoid arthritis patients who need total knee arthroplasty

Pre-operative presence of micro-organism in knee joints of RA patients is common (24.5%). This finding of a high incidence of pre-operative presence of micro-organism in joints of RA patients before arthroplasty may suggest a role of micro-organism in the pathogenesis of prosthetic joint infection (PJI). Intraoperative synovial tissue culture is valuable for diagnosis of this condition and in instruction of antibacterial treatment.