ArticleKnee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA2020
Soaking of the graft in vancomycin dramatically reduces the incidence of postoperative septic arthritis after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.
Article in Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 42 citations in OpenAlex.
- Vancomycin presoak reduces infection in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2023Pooled it
- Therapeutic Strategies and Clinical Outcomes of Infections Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: A Narrative Review.Orthopaedic surgery · 2026Review
- Vancomycin-soaking of the graft significantly reduces the incidence of septic arthritis following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: comparison of cohorts from the Single-Centre database.International orthopaedics · 2025Article
- Assessing Residual Moisture After Sterilization as an Overlooked Source of Intraoperative Bacterial Contamination in Knee Intra-articular Reconstructions: Evaluating the Reliability of Routine Procedures and Tests.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2025Article
- Standardized treatment of infection after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- In Vitro Study of Gentamicin Elution from Tendon Grafts.Indian journal of orthopaedics · 2023Article
- Approaches to Septic Arthritis of the Knee Post Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction.Current reviews in musculoskeletal medicine · 2023Review
- Vancomycin Concentrations in Synovial Fluid Do Not Reach Chondrotoxic Thresholds After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction With Vancomycin-Soaked Autologous Soft Tissue Grafts: An In Vivo Prospective Observational Study in Humans.The American journal of sports medicine · 2023Observational
- Presoaking ACL Grafts in Vancomycin Decreases the Frequency of Postoperative Septic Arthritis: A Cohort Study of 29,659 Patients, Systematic Review, and Meta-analysis From the SANTI Study Group.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2022Article
- Vancomycin Presoaking of the Graft Appears to Prevent Infection After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.HSS journal : the musculoskeletal journal of Hospital for Special Surgery · 2022Review
- Surgeon practice patterns for pre-soaking ACL tendon grafts in vancomycin: a survey of the ACL study group.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2021Article
- Management Guidelines for Infection After ACL Reconstruction: Expert Opinion Statement Based on the Modified Delphi Survey of Indian Arthroscopy Surgeons.Indian journal of orthopaedics · 2021Article
- Vancomycin presoaking of hamstring autografts to prevent infection in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: a narrative review.EFORT open reviews · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeTo determine and compare the incidence of postoperative septic arthritis following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) with and without soaking of the graft in vancomycin solution prior to implantation in a large single-centre case series.
methodsFrom 2004 to 2019, a total of 10,516 primary ACLR were performed and reviewed with regard to the occurrence of postoperative septic arthritis. From February 2017 onwards, all grafts were wrapped in a vancomycin-soaked (5 mg/ml) gauze swab between harvest and implantation (2294 patients, treatment group (2), prospectively followed). These were compared to 8222 patients before that date (control group (1), retrospectively evaluated). The technique of ACLR did not significantly change during the years of the study. There was no difference between the groups with regard to graft choice: Hamstring tendons were used in 99% and quadriceps tendons were used in 1% in both groups, respectively (n.s.). Routine follow-up examination was performed at 6 weeks (follow-up rate 97.1%) postoperatively. Patients with no treatment for septic arthritis at that time were classified as non-infected.
resultsThere were 35 cases of postoperative septic arthritis in group 1 (incidence: 0.4%), and none in group 2 (incidence 0.0%), respectively. The difference was significant (p < 0.001).
conclusionsSoaking of the graft in vancomycin solution prior to implantation dramatically reduces the incidence of postoperative septic arthritis in primary ACLR and should, therefore, be used in prevention of this major complication. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III.
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