The surgical site infection risk is low for unicompartmental knee arthroplasty, according to research published in the Journal of Arthroplasty.
Researchers from Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic's orthopedic surgery department evaluated unicompartmental knee arthroplasty cases between 20067 and 2017, studying surgical site infection rates for 296 procedures, 40 of which were outpatient. Outpatients received single-dose antibiotics, and inpatients received 24-hour antibiotics.
Key study details:
1. A surgical site infection occurred in two cases in the entire cohort.
2. There weren't any infections in the outpatient cohort.
3. Researchers concluded, "This study demonstrates a low [surgical site infection] risk (0.8 percent or less) following [ unicompartmental knee arthroplasty] with both single-dose and 24-hour IV antibiotics. Administering single-dose perioperative antibiotics is safe for UKA, which should alleviate that potential concern for outpatient surgery."