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Corticosteroid injection in the early postoperative period after knee arthroscopy increased infection risk
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ORLANDO — Patients who received corticosteroid injection 2 to 4 weeks after simple knee arthroscopy procedures were associated with a higher rate of complications related to infection, according to results presented here.
“Based on these results, we recommend waiting at least 4 weeks postoperatively before administering corticosteroid following simple knee procedures,” Jourdan Cancienne, MD, said in a presentation at the Arthroscopy Association of North America Annual Meeting.
In a retrospective review of more than 2,700 patients who received postoperative injections after simple knee arthroscopy procedures, Cancienne and colleagues found a 3.4% and 2% infection rate among patients who received injections within 2 weeks and 4 weeks of surgery, respectively. This was in comparison with an infection rate of 0.5% in a control group, according to Cancienne.
“When we further looked at this data and compared cohorts, we know that patients who underwent injections within 2 and 4 weeks as compared to patients who underwent injection 6 to 8 weeks after surgery continued to have a significantly increased risk of postoperative infection within 90 days,” Cancienne said.
He added a Medicare dataset had similar results, with an infection rate of 0.2% in a control group compared with 3.4% among patients who received injections at 2 weeks postoperatively and 3.2% in patients who received injections at 4 weeks postoperatively.
“When we looked at this data and compared the weekly cohorts, we also noted patients who underwent injections within 2 to 4 weeks had significantly increased risk of infections compared to patients who underwent these injections 6 to 8 weeks after operation,” Cancienne said. – by Casey Tingle
Reference:
Cancienne J, et al. The timing of corticosteroid injections following knee arthroscopy influence infection risk. Presented at: Arthroscopy Association of North America Annual Meeting; May 2-4, 2019; Orlando.
Disclosure: Cancienne reports no relevant financial disclosures.