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Professional athletes had greater arthritis risk after ACL reconstruction vs non-professional athletes
Published results showed a greater risk of septic arthritis after ACL reconstruction among professional athletes compared with non-professional athletes.
Researchers determined the rate of septic arthritis among patients who underwent ACL reconstruction between January 2009 and July 2017 and used multivariate analysis to evaluate potentially important risk factors, including participation in professional sports. Researchers performed a pooled data analysis with data from the literature to determine differences in the risk of septic arthritis between professional and non-professional populations.
Among 4,421 ACL reconstruction procedures identified, results showed 265 patients were professional athletes and 4,156 patients were non-professional athletes. Researchers noted septic arthritis was diagnosed in 15 cases, of which 10 cases occurred in professional athletes. Septic arthritis occurred in 0.12% of non-professional athletes, according to results. Researchers found an association between a significantly increased risk of septic arthritis after ACL reconstruction and being a professional athlete. Results showed the pooled data analysis, which comprised 11,416 patients (including 1,118 professional athletes), confirmed this finding. – by Casey Tingle
Disclosures: Sonnery-Cottet reports he receives royalties and research support from and is a paid consultant and has made presentations for Arthrex Inc. Please see the study for a list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.