Surgical Management of Knee Septic Arthritis

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, El Paso

Status

Terminated

Conditions

Septic Arthritis

Treatments

Procedure: Arthroscopic Irrigation and Debridement

Procedure: Open Arthrotomy with irrigation and debridement

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT04786379

IRB #E21085

Details and patient eligibility

About

Surgical excisional debridement is the mainstay of management in septic arthritis with necessary decompression, lavage, debridement, and partial synovectomy. However, there has been considerable debate over the optimal modality. Most surgeons perform an open arthrotomy or arthroscopic debridement, although serial aspiration can be considered as an option in very limited circumstances with patients who cannot tolerate surgery. While open arthrotomy has been often utilized, there has been an increasing number of proponents for arthroscopic treatment citing lower re-infection rates and better functional outcomes. However, there has been a lack of well-designed prospective studies comparing surgical treatment modalities for native knee septic arthritis. The goals of this present study are to determine if arthroscopic management of septic arthritis in the native knee resulted in a lower number of surgeries and a shorter length of stay compared to open arthrotomy. Secondary outcomes included differences in postoperative pain and improvements in Lysholm knee scores.

Enrollment

10 patients

Sex

All

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Adults (>18 years old)
Have a diagnosis of septic arthritis of the native knee (synovial WBC >50k or acrystalline elevated synovial WBC >25,000 with high clinical suspicion)
Willingness to participate in the study

Exclusion criteria

Unwilling to participate in the study
Acrystalline elevated synovial WBC < 25,000
Crystalline arthropathy with elevated synovial WBC but < 50,000
Have a history of a prior knee prosthesis (hemiarthroplasty, total knee arthroplasty)