Infectious and thromboembolic complications of arthroscopic shoulder surgery

Hypothesis This study investigates the rate of infectious and thromboembolic complications in shoulder arthroscopy and their association with pharmacologic prophylaxis. Materials and 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) Conclusion The association between infection and antibiotic prophylaxis was significant ( P = 0.01); however, the risk of DVTs was not decreased with heparin prophylaxis. Level of evidence Level 3.