title: Septic arthritis following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using tendon allografts--Florida and Louisiana, 2000.
abstract: In the United States, approximately 50,000 knee surgeries are performed each year for repairing anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries. Tissue allografts frequently are used for ACL reconstruction, and septic arthritis is a rare complication of such procedures. This report describes four patients who acquired postsurgical septic arthritis probably associated with contaminated bone-tendon-bone allografts used for ACL reconstruction. Effective sterilization methods that do not functionally alter musculoskeletal tissue are needed to prevent allograft-related infections.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016118:Anterior Cruciate Ligament / Q000601:surgery*; D001170:Arthritis, Infectious / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D005431:Florida / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008145:Louisiana / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019637:Orthopedic Procedures; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D013242:Sterilization; D013710:Tendons / Q000382:microbiology / Q000637:transplantation*; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous; D019737:Transplants / Q000382:microbiology