Infectious and thromboembolic complications of arthroscopic shoulder surgery.
OBJECTIVE
This study investigates the rate of infectious and thromboembolic complications in shoulder arthroscopy and their association with pharmacologic prophylaxis.


METHODS
On behalf of the Italian Society for Knee Surgery, Arthroscopy, Sport Traumatology, Cartilage and Orthopaedic Technologies (SIGASCOT), we asked the members to complete an on-line Web survey about their experiences and strategies of prophylaxis in shoulder arthroscopy.


RESULTS
In the period 2005-2006, 9385 surgeries were performed. We report 15 infections and 6 DVTs. The overall rate of infections was 0.0016 (1.6/1000) and the rate of DVTs was 0.0006 (0.6/1000)


CONCLUSIONS
The association between infection and antibiotic prophylaxis was significant (P=0.01); however, the risk of DVTs was not decreased with heparin prophylaxis.


METHODS
Level 3.
Randelli
Pietro
P
Dipartimento di Scienze Medico-Chirurgiche, Universita' degli Studi di Milano, IRCCS Policlinico San Donato, San Donato Milanese, Milano, Italy. pietro.randelli@unimi.it
Castagna
Alessandro
A
Cabitza
Federico
F
Cabitza
Paolo
P
Arrigoni
Paolo
P
Denti
Matteo
M
D019072:Antibiotic Prophylaxis; D001182:Arthroscopy / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000379:methods; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D011336:Probability; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012785:Shoulder Joint / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D054556:Venous Thromboembolism / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control