ARTHROSCOPY IN SEPTIC ARTHRITIS - LIDOCAINE-CONTAINING AND IODINE-CONTAINING CONTRAST-MEDIA ARE BACTERIOSTATIC

Puncture of septic foci is usually performed to determine the responsible bacteria. If contrast medium is used instead of saline to rinse the lesion and to withdraw an adequate bacteriologic specimen, the opacification provides valuable information about the extent of the changes. Since lidocaine is usually used as a local anesthetic when patients undergo this procedure, the in vitro antibacterial effects of lidocaine 1%, as well as those of 2 contrast media, meglumine amidotrizoate and metrizamide were studied on several bacteria. In particular, the influence of the inoculum concentration used and the duration of contact before culture were observed. The contrast media did not significantly affect bacterial growth when contact before culture did not exceed 3 h. In contrast, lidocaine had a significant antibacterial effect, indicating that it should not enter into contact with the bacteriologic specimen.