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Update on the risks of complications after knee arthroscopy

Friberger Pajalic, Katarina ; Turkiewicz, Aleksandra LU and Englund, Martin LU orcid (2018) In BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 19(1).
Abstract

Background: Knee arthroscopy is one of the most common surgical procedures worldwide and the number of arthroscopies has substantially increased in the last 30 years. Thus, our aim was to provide updated estimates on the risk of complications and compare it with the background risk in the general population. Methods: We identified patients aged 15-84 years with knee arthroscopy in the years 2005-2016 in southern Sweden. We calculated the risk of pyogenic arthritis, venous thromboembolism, and other typical complications within 30 days. As a reference cohort we included the regional population in the corresponding age interval. We estimated the relative and absolute risks of complications compared to the reference cohort using logistic... (More)

Background: Knee arthroscopy is one of the most common surgical procedures worldwide and the number of arthroscopies has substantially increased in the last 30 years. Thus, our aim was to provide updated estimates on the risk of complications and compare it with the background risk in the general population. Methods: We identified patients aged 15-84 years with knee arthroscopy in the years 2005-2016 in southern Sweden. We calculated the risk of pyogenic arthritis, venous thromboembolism, and other typical complications within 30 days. As a reference cohort we included the regional population in the corresponding age interval. We estimated the relative and absolute risks of complications compared to the reference cohort using logistic regression adjusted for age, sex, and level of education. We also estimated the proportion of complications in the population explained by knee arthroscopy (population attributable fraction). Results: We identified 18,735 knee arthroscopy patients (mean age 39 years) and 1,171,084 reference subjects (mean age 46 years). The absolute risk of one or more complications was 1.1% after knee arthroscopy and 0.16% in references. The odds ratio of any complication after knee arthroscopy vs. the reference cohort was 9.4 (95% confidence interval [CI] 8.1, 10.9) with an absolute risk difference of 1.4% (1.1, 1.6%). The relative risk (95% CI) for pyogenic arthritis was 115 (75, 174), venous thromboembolism 6.8 (5.1, 9.1), and other complications 7.7 (6.3, 9.5). The population attributable fraction for pyogenic arthritis was 5%. Conclusions: The absolute risks of complications associated with knee arthroscopy remain small at about 1%. Still, 5% of all pyogenic knee arthritis cases in adults are attributable to knee arthroscopy, thus risks with knee arthroscopy should be carefully considered in the choice of treatment.

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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Complications, Epidemiology, Knee arthroscopy, Pyogenic arthritis, Venous thromboembolism
in
BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders
volume
19
issue
1
article number
179
publisher
BioMed Central (BMC)
external identifiers
  • pmid:29859074
  • scopus:85047959121
ISSN
1471-2474
DOI
10.1186/s12891-018-2102-y
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
db2c8a8a-8bee-442d-a98b-a533d2be8c79
date added to LUP
2018-06-11 13:24:37
date last changed
2024-07-08 15:11:35
@article{db2c8a8a-8bee-442d-a98b-a533d2be8c79,
  abstract     = {{<p>Background: Knee arthroscopy is one of the most common surgical procedures worldwide and the number of arthroscopies has substantially increased in the last 30 years. Thus, our aim was to provide updated estimates on the risk of complications and compare it with the background risk in the general population. Methods: We identified patients aged 15-84 years with knee arthroscopy in the years 2005-2016 in southern Sweden. We calculated the risk of pyogenic arthritis, venous thromboembolism, and other typical complications within 30 days. As a reference cohort we included the regional population in the corresponding age interval. We estimated the relative and absolute risks of complications compared to the reference cohort using logistic regression adjusted for age, sex, and level of education. We also estimated the proportion of complications in the population explained by knee arthroscopy (population attributable fraction). Results: We identified 18,735 knee arthroscopy patients (mean age 39 years) and 1,171,084 reference subjects (mean age 46 years). The absolute risk of one or more complications was 1.1% after knee arthroscopy and 0.16% in references. The odds ratio of any complication after knee arthroscopy vs. the reference cohort was 9.4 (95% confidence interval [CI] 8.1, 10.9) with an absolute risk difference of 1.4% (1.1, 1.6%). The relative risk (95% CI) for pyogenic arthritis was 115 (75, 174), venous thromboembolism 6.8 (5.1, 9.1), and other complications 7.7 (6.3, 9.5). The population attributable fraction for pyogenic arthritis was 5%. Conclusions: The absolute risks of complications associated with knee arthroscopy remain small at about 1%. Still, 5% of all pyogenic knee arthritis cases in adults are attributable to knee arthroscopy, thus risks with knee arthroscopy should be carefully considered in the choice of treatment.</p>}},
  author       = {{Friberger Pajalic, Katarina and Turkiewicz, Aleksandra and Englund, Martin}},
  issn         = {{1471-2474}},
  keywords     = {{Complications; Epidemiology; Knee arthroscopy; Pyogenic arthritis; Venous thromboembolism}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{06}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
  series       = {{BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders}},
  title        = {{Update on the risks of complications after knee arthroscopy}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12891-018-2102-y}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/s12891-018-2102-y}},
  volume       = {{19}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}