Laboratory Contamination of Surgical Tissue Specimens in the Biological Cabinet

Abstract

Rare growth of coagulase-negative staphylococci and other skin organisms from tissue specimens collected during total joint replacement may reflect quiescent sepsis. The devastative consequences of such infections may not appear for weeks or months in an untreated patient. A conservative interpretation of a report of rare growth may result in extended hospitalization and antimicrobial therapy for the patient at an exorbitant cost. By initiating a more rigid aseptic technique within the biological cabinet during processing of orthopedic surgical tissue prior to culture, my laboratory significantly reduced the number of rare-growth specimens. These results suggest that some reports of low-level growth from surgical tissue specimens may represent laboratory contamination.