J Orthop Surg Res 15, 298 (2020).

Meta-analysis of serum and/or plasma D-dimer in the diagnosis of periprosthetic joint infection

Li, C., Margaryan, D., Ojeda-Thies, C. et al.
Ankle Elbow Hip Knee Shoulder Wrist

Background

The purpose of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the diagnostic value of D-dimer in detecting periprosthetic joint infection (PJI).

Methods

A systematic search and screening of relevant studies was performed in the databases PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase using the following medical subject headings (MeSH) or keywords: “arthroplasty or joint prosthesis or joint replacement or periprosthetic joint or prosthetic joint”, “infection or infectious or infected”, and “D-dimer or serum D-dimer or plasma D-dimer or fibrin degradation products”. Data were subsequently analysed and processed using Meta-Disc.

Results

Seven studies with 1285 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, and diagnostic odds ratio were 0.75 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.70–0.79), 0.69 (95% CI 0.66–0.72), 3.01 (95% CI 1.84–4.93), 0.32 (95% CI 0.19–0.53), and 10.20 (95% CI 3.63–28.64), respectively. Subgroup analyses showed that the use of serum D-dimer had better sensitivity and specificity than plasma D-dimer for the diagnosis of PJI.

Conclusions

Serum D-dimer was shown to have a better diagnostic value than plasma D-dimer for the diagnosis of PJI. Further research is required for clarification.


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