Culture and Sensitivity Synovial Fluid

Synovial Fluid culture and sensitivity is a technique predominantly used to test the sensitivity of the aerobic bacteria, which can infect bone joints in the body. This test is done on both males and females to find out whether the joints are infected by a bacteria or not and to find the cause for joint inflammation.

What is Synovial Fluid?

Synovial fluid is present at each of the joints in the human body. This fluid is a thick liquid which helps in the lubrication of the joints and allows for easy movement. In joint diseases like arthritis, the synovium of the joint is the main place where inflammation occurs.

What are Bacteria, Aerobic Bacteria, and their types?

Bacteria are the single-celled micro-organisms that can live within the soil, in the ocean and also inside the human gut. They have a number of shapes such as spirals, rods, and spheres etc. Some bacteria can cause illness to the human body and some other plays a major role in the overall functioning of our ecosystem.

Aerobic bacteria are the bacteria which can survive in the presence of oxygen only. In the absence of oxygen, aerobic bacteria cannot survive and can die. Some of the aerobic bacteria are Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Nocardia, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis etc.

Why this test is performed?

This test is performed to check if an individual synovial fluid is infected by an aerobic bacteria or not. This test may be recommended to you by a physician if you experience symptoms such as joint pains, inflammation in joints, swelling, redness, joint stiffness, fluid accumulation at the joints, etc. This test is also performed to you if you recently had a joint surgery to check if there is an infection by aerobic bacteria developing at the site of the surgery.

This test also helps the doctors to plan the treatment according to the type of bacteria, that infects the synovial fluid at the joints. The test is also performed to check the effectiveness of the treatment.

The test results may vary depending on age, health history, medical condition, etc.

If your test results are negative, then it may indicate that there are no signs of growth of aerobic bacteria.

If your test results are positive, then it may indicate there is a chance for growth of aerobic bacteria, which means that the synovial fluid at the joint has been infected by an aerobic bacteria.

If abnormal test results were seen, consult your doctor immediately with your lab test reports.