Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore the clinical value of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) in the diagnosis of polymicrobial periprosthetic joint infection (PJI). Methods: Patients with complete data who underwent surgery at our hospital between July 2017 and January 2021 for suspected periprosthetic joint infection (PJI), according to the 2018 ICE diagnostic criteria, were enrolled, and all patients underwent microbial culture and mNGS detection, which were performed on the BGISEQ-500 platform. Microbial cultures were performed on two samples of synovial fluid, six samples of tissue, and two samples of prosthetic sonicate fluid for each patient. The mNGS was performed on 10 tissues, 64 synovial fluid samples, and 17 prosthetic sonicate fluid samples. The results of mNGS testing were based on the interpretation of mNGS results in the previous literature and the assertions of microbiologists and orthopedic surgeons. The diagnostic efficacy of mNGS in polymicrobial PJI was assessed by comparing the results of conventional microbial cultures and mNGS. Results: A total of 91 patients were finally enrolled in this study. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of conventional culture for the diagnosis of PJI were 71.0%, 95.4%, and 76.9%, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of mNGS for the diagnosis of PJI were 91.3%, 86.3%, and 90.1%, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of conventional culture for the diagnosis of polymicrobial PJI were 57.1%, 100%, and 91.3%, respectively. mNGS had a sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 85.7%, 60.0%, and 65.2%, respectively, for the diagnosis of polymicrobial PJI. Conclusions: mNGS can improve the diagnosis efficiency of polymicrobial PJI, and the combination of culture and mNGS is a promising method to diagnose polymicrobial PJI.

Aims: This aim of this study was to analyze the detection rate of rare pathogens in bone and joint infections (BJIs) using metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS), and the impact of mNGS on clinical diagnosis and treatment.Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 235 patients with BJIs who were treated at our hospital between January 2015 and December 2021. Patients were divided into the no-mNGS group (microbial culture only) and the mNGS group (mNGS testing and microbial culture) based on whether mNGS testing was used or not.Results: A total of 147 patients were included in the no-mNGS group and 88 in the mNGS group. The mNGS group had a higher detection rate of rare pathogens than the no-mNGS group (21.6% vs 10.2%, p = 0.016). However, the mNGS group had lower rates of antibiotic-related complications, shorter hospital stays, and higher infection control rates compared with the no-mNGS group (p = 0.017, p = 0.003, and p = 0.028, respectively), while there was no significant difference in the duration of antibiotic use (p = 0.957). In culture-negative cases, the mNGS group had lower rates of antibiotic-related complications, shorter hospital stays, and a higher infection control rate than the no-mNGS group (p = 0.036, p = 0.033, p = 0.022, respectively), while there was no significant difference in the duration of antibiotic use (p = 0.748).Conclusion: mNGS improves detection of rare pathogens in BJIs. mNGS testing reduces antibiotic-related complications, shortens hospital stay and antibiotic use duration, and improves treatment success rate, benefits which are particularly evident in culture-negative cases.Cite this article: Bone Joint Res 2024;13(8):401–410.

Objective: To investigate the feasibility of pre‐drilling combined with a finger reduction tool for the reduction of difficult‐to‐reduce intertrochanteric fractures.Methods: Patients diagnosed with complicated intertrochanteric fractures during the period from July 2016 to May 2021 at the Affiliated Hospital of our College were enrolled in this study. All patients underwent reduction by pre‐drilling combined with a finger reduction tool followed by fixing with proximal femoral nail antirotation. The outcome of reduction was evaluated by intraoperative fluoroscopy. The operation time, intraoperative fluoroscopy frequency, and incidence of postoperative complications (including infection in the incision area, coxa vara, nail withdrawal, nail breakage, blade cut‐out, lower limb vein thrombosis, and pulmonary embolism) were recorded to evaluate the speed of the operation, the difficulty of the operation, and the prognosis of the patient, respectively. The Harris hip score at 9 months after surgery was used to evaluate the hip recovery.Results: A total of 52 patients (17 men and 35 women), 61–88 (77.54 ± 7.40) years of age were included in the study. There were 14 patients with cardiovascular or cerebrovascular disease, ten patients with diabetes, three patients with Parkinson's disease, and three patients with respiratory diseases. The fractures included in the study were classified according to the Orthopedic Trauma Association 31 classification system as type A2.2 (n = 36) or type A2.3 (n = 16). The time from injury to surgery was 1–11 (3.35 ± 1.78) days, and the operation time ranged 31–101 (65.67 ± 14.17) min. The intraoperative blood loss ranged from 40 to 100 (67.69 ± 18.24) mL, and the number of intraoperative fluoroscopy images obtained was 12 to 32 (20.42 ± 5.27). The Harris hip score at 9 months after surgery ranged from 84 to 94 (90.06 ± 2.15). Patients were followed for 9–16 (10.63 ± 1.61) months. One patient died of acute myocardial infarction at 9 months after surgery. One patient suffered from nail withdrawal 5 months post‐operation and thus underwent hemiarthroplasty.Conclusions: Satisfactory reduction can be achieved using a pre‐drilling femoral trochanter combined with a finger reduction tool for the management of difficult‐to‐reduce complex intertrochanteric fractures. This technique does not increase surgical trauma and also reduces the dose of radiation administered to the patient.