Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35031853›Full record

ArticleEuropean journal of orthopaedic surgery & traumatology : orthopedie traumatologie2023

C.acnes in the joint, is it all just a false positive?

Timothy J Batten, Sian Gallacher, William J Thomas, Jeffrey Kitson, Christopher D Smith

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Article in European journal of orthopaedic surgery & traumatology : orthopedie traumatologie, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 33% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026
    Article
  2. Clinics in orthopedic surgery · 2024
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Timothy J BattenDepartment of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Princess Elizabeth Orthopaedic Centre, Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust, Barrack Road, Exeter, EX2 5DW, UK. timothybatten@nhs.net.
Sian GallacherDepartment of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Princess Elizabeth Orthopaedic Centre, Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust, Barrack Road, Exeter, EX2 5DW, UK.
William J ThomasDepartment of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Princess Elizabeth Orthopaedic Centre, Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust, Barrack Road, Exeter, EX2 5DW, UK.
Jeffrey KitsonDepartment of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Princess Elizabeth Orthopaedic Centre, Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust, Barrack Road, Exeter, EX2 5DW, UK.
Christopher D SmithDepartment of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Princess Elizabeth Orthopaedic Centre, Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust, Barrack Road, Exeter, EX2 5DW, UK.
Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust · GBPrincess Elizabeth Orthopaedic Centre · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCutibacterium Acnes (C.acnes) has been linked to several shoulder pathologies. An alternative hypothesis suggests it only occurs in the joint secondary to previous instrumentation. Our hypothesis was patients with previous instrumentation would have C.acnes in their joint if it was in skin. MATERIALS AND

methodsSixty-six patients undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery had biopsies taken from the affected joint at the time of surgery, along with control biopsies of subdermal fat. The extended culture results were assessed and correlated to previous intervention.

results35% tested positive for C.acnes in their joint. 78% were male. 53% had absence of C.acnes in both skin and joint and 29% had presence in both (p = 0.0001). 15% with previous surgery had C.acnes. 53% with previous injection had C.acnes. 25% of patients with virgin joints had C.acnes. There was no statistical difference in the presence of C.acnes in the joint between those with previous instrumentation and without.

conclusionThe significant factors for joint C.acnes were male sex and the presence of the bacteria in the fat. Previous instrumentation was not correlated with C.acnes in the joint. This raises the question of whether the process of biopsy itself may lead to inoculation of the joint.

Indexed as

Gram-Positive Bacterial InfectionsShoulder JointFemaleHumansMalePropionibacterium acnesShoulderSkinC.acnesCutibacterium acnesInfectionP.acnesPropionibacterium acnesShoulder

Identifiers

PMID35031853
OpenAlexW4205724195

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.