Fuchs M, et al. - To estimate the bacterial colonization of any osteosynthetic implants around the hip and knee in subjects without clinical signs of infection, investigators examined 203 implants. Implants were categorized on the basis of sonication fluid cultures as per the microbial growth: negative (no growth), contaminated (non-significant growth) or colonized (significant growth). Including 24% after orthopedic and 27% after traumatological surgery, sonication cultures were positive in 54 implants (27%). Irrespective of the initial type of surgery, they detected high bacterial implant colonization rates. The most common causative agents of periprosthetic joint infections were staphylococci.