Doctor Jon Minter is an Orthopedic Surgeon who works in Atlanta, Georgia. His practice revolves primarily around joint replacement, hip and knee replacement. “I do a lot of revision surgery,” he told us, ” but also a lot of infection management, which is a big part of my practice.” He was kind enough to sit down with us and talk about his experience using MicroGen as a diagnostic tool
Dr. Minter began by revealing some of the difficulties faced from using traditional cultures. “Many of the patients are coming to us after having a number of misdiagnoses or antibiotic failures,” he told us, ” or frankly, they’re just looking for answers. Many times these patients are culture negative and that is a big problem in our practices in general orthopedics. We know they’re infected, we see they’re infected, but yet, we can’t pin down a diagnosis.
Dr. Minter found that the Net Generation DNA sequencing done by MicroGen DX provided much more reliable diagnostic information. “With the DNA analysis assessment of the tissues,” he explained, ” when I get that information back,
then I have an extremely high confidence level about what it is I’m going after.”
“Antibiotics selection I think, is very key because if you know what the organism is and if you know what’s going to hit it, then that’s how you go after it with your aggressive surgical techniques, bone resection, soft tissue debridement. Those things are the difference makers, whenever you know what it is you’re going after.”
The difference, Dr. Minter explained, between traditional cultures and DNA diagnostics is stark. Not only did he find that the results were more reliable, offering far fewer negative results, but also provided a richer depth of information.
“It’s pretty easy for me to say that we now have a much more definitive test” Dr. Minter explained, “that gives us very specific answers on organisms we probably really didn’t know existed in infected joints. Many of them polymicrobial problems including fungus infections that had been previously undiagnosed. With treatment failures, this helps us explain why our old tools did not help us.
The DNA analysis provided by MicroGen DX has become a vital part of the way Dr. Minter provides care for his patients- one he feels other patient care facilities need to utilize. “For me, right now in my practice,” he told us,
“I can tell you that MicroGen DX, this DNA analysis is absolutely a key part of our whole management strategy.
“I can tell you, if I don’t have it, then it’s like a huge piece of the puzzle that’s not there and when you use it, all of the sudden that piece of the puzzle is there. Then your management can begin.”
We asked Dr. Minter what he thought about the fact that the use of traditional cultures is still so prevalent in medical diagnostics, and if he would recommend his colleagues try MicroGen DX.
“I’d hate for any of my colleagues to sit on the sidelines in a sense,” he replied, “knowing that there is a very definitive test that could give them the answers that they need in terms of management of infection.
I think that we’ve just not had this in the past and now that we’ve got it, absolutely why not take advantage of the fact that it’s available?”
Click here to watch this interview on our YouTube channel.
Jon E. Minter, DO
http://arthritisandtotaljoint.com/jon-minter-d
3400-C Old Milton Parkway
Suite 290
Alpharetta, Georgia 30005
Phone: 770-667-4343
Fax: 770-772-0937
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