The Association Between Race/Ethnicity and Revision Following ACL Reconstruction in a Universally Insured Cohort.

BACKGROUND: There have been few large studies involving multiethnic cohorts of patients treated with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR), and therefore, little is known about the role that race/ethnicity may play in the differential risk of undergoing revision surgery following primary ACLR. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether differences exist by race/ethnicity in the risk of undergoing the elective procedure of aseptic revision in a universally insured cohort of patients who had undergone ACLR. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study conducted using our integrated health-care system's ACLR registry and including primary ACLRs from 2008 to 2015. Race/ethnicity was categorized into the following 4 groups: non-Hispanic white, black, Hispanic, and Asian. Multivariable Cox proportional-hazard models were used to evaluate the association between race/ethnicity and revision risk while adjusting for age, sex, highest educational attainment, annual household income, graft type, and geographic region in which the ACLR was performed. RESULTS: Of the 27,258 included patients,13,567 (49.8%) were white, 7,713 (28.3%) were Hispanic, 3,725 (13.7%) were Asian, and 2,253 (8.3%) were black. Asian patients (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.72; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.57 to 0.90) and Hispanic patients (HR = 0.83; 95% CI = 0.70 to 0.98) had a lower risk of undergoing revision surgery than did white patients. Within the first 3.5 years postoperatively, we did not observe a difference in revision risk when black patients were compared with white patients (HR = 0.86; 95% CI = 0.64 to 1.14); after 3.5 years postoperatively, black patients had a lower risk of undergoing revision (HR = 0.23; 95% CI = 0.08 to 0.63). CONCLUSIONS: In a large, universally insured ACLR cohort with equal access to care, we observed Asian, Hispanic, and black patients to have a similar or lower risk of undergoing elective revision compared with white patients. These findings emphasize the need for additional investigation into barriers to equal access to care. Because of the sensitivity and complexity of race/ethnicity with surgical outcomes, continued assessment into the reasons for the differences observed, as well as any differences in other clinical outcomes, is warranted. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Efficacy of Prophylactic Antibiotics in Simple Knee Arthroscopy.

PURPOSE: To determine the association between the use of preoperative antibiotics and the risk of postoperative infection after simple knee arthroscopy. METHODS: The electronic medical records of a large integrated health care organization were used to identify patients who underwent simple knee arthroscopy between 2007 and 2012. Patient demographics, potential infection risk factors, and antibiotic administration data were extracted. Simple knee arthroscopy included debridement, meniscectomy, meniscus repair, synovectomy, microfracture, and lateral release. Complex knee arthroscopy, septic knees, and cases involving fractures were excluded. Deep infection was defined as a positive synovial fluid culture or signs and symptoms of infection and gross pus in the knee. Superficial infection was defined as clinical signs of infection localized to a portal site and treatment with an antibiotic. RESULTS: Of 40,810 simple knee arthroscopies, 32,836 (80.5%) received preoperative antibiotics and 7,974 (19.5%) did not. There were 25 deep infections in the antibiotic group (0.08%) and 11 in the no-antibiotics group (0.14%) (risk ratio = 0.55, 95% confidence interval: 0.27 to 1.12, P = .10). There were 134 superficial infections in the antibiotic group (0.41%) and 32 in the no-antibiotics group (0.40%) (risk ratio = 1.01, 95% confidence interval: 0.29 to 1.49, P = .93). CONCLUSIONS: In our large sample of patients who underwent simple knee arthroscopy, there was no association between preoperative antibiotic use and postoperative deep or superficial infection rates at the 95% confidence level (P = .05). There was an association between preoperative antibiotic use and a decreased deep infection rate at the P = .10 level. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, case series.