Deep Infections Occur in 6 Percent of Knee Fracture Repairs

FRIDAY, Aug. 30, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Deep surgical site infections (SSIs) occur in nearly 6 percent of periarticular knee fracture repairs, according to a review published online Aug. 23 in JAMA Network Open.

Grayson R. Norris, from High Point University in North Carolina, and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review to estimate the prevalence of deep SSI and the rate of septic arthritis after surgical repair of fractures around the knee.

The researchers identified 117 eligible articles (including 11,432 patients) and found that 5.7 percent of patients experienced deep SSIs. SSIs were most common among patients with proximal tibia fractures (56 of 872 patients; 6.4 percent). Of the studies reporting information on septic arthritis, 38 of 1,567 patients (2.4 percent) experienced septic arthritis. Among SSIs, the two most commonly reported bacteria were methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (67 SSIs) and methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (53 SSIs). Just over half of the studies (53 percent) were rated as having poor methodology (<50 points on the Coleman Methodological Score).

“Surgeons managing periarticular knee fractures should be vigilant when wounds are not pristine,” the authors write.

One author disclosed financial ties to the medical device industry.

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