Discontinuing routine processing of screening urine cultures prior to elective joint arthroplasty resulted in substantial reduction in urine cultures ordered and antimicrobial prescriptions for asymptomatic bacteriuria, without any significant impact on incidence of prosthetic joint infection. This simple change would be scalable across institutions with potential for significant healthcare savings.
Keywords: asymptomatic bacteriuria; joint arthroplasty.; prosthetic joint infection; urine culture.
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