C-reactive protein (CRP) is a common laboratory infection marker in blood-serum of patients. In all diverse medical departments CRP is often used, and also in orthopaedics CRP is proved to be very helpful in diagnosis and monitor of infections. CRP in most fields is superior to conventional and newer infection parameter and is a basic parameter for inflammation. Especially for detection of an early postoperative infection CRP can be very helpful as an objective parameter easy to obtain. In uneventful operative treatment a similar evolution in CRP concentrations was found: the peak level occurred on the second or third postoperative day and reflected the extent of surgical trauma. A second rise of CRP in the postoperative course indicates a complication. Highest levels are reached in bacterial infection after the forth postoperative day with a cut-off level about 10 mg/dl. CRP can also be used as a preoperative marker for risk stratification and newer times CRP is reported as an independent fracture-risk-factor. In general CRP is the basic inflammatory parameter in orthopaedic surgery and is more significant and common than WBC or ESR. But CRP is only a laboratory parameter and must always be correlated with clinical signs of infection.

Department for Trauma and Reconstructive Surgery University Hospital rechts der Isar Technical University of Munich Munich Germany