- See:
General Discussion: Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate
- Discussion:
- elevation of
sed rate can be a reliable test for diagnosis of infected THR;
- greater than 85% of pts w/ infection about THR have elevated sed rate
& 79 % have a rate of more than 50 mm / hour;
- in the report by Lachiewicz et al (JBJS 1996), the mean sed rate was 80 mm/hr;
-
screening levels:
- if 30 to 35 mm is used as a threshold for infection, then the sensitivity rate will
range from 61-88% and the specificity rate will range from 96 to 100 %;
- Normal Values:
- sed rate in pts undergoing an uncomplicated THR reaches maximum of
64 mm / hour on 6 postoperative day;
- rate averaged 50 mm / hour until 3 weeks after surgery and thereafter
slowly decreased to 30 mm hour over course of year;
- after 3 weeks, sed rate that remains higher than 40 mm / hour
suggests that pt has infection until proved otherwise;
- polymethylmethacrylate does not appear to have significant effect on
sed rate, and increase that occurs after uncomplicated THR is related to
surgical intervention;
Erythrocyte sedimentation rate in infection of total hip replacements.
The erythrocyte sedimentation rate following exchange of infected total hips.
