A surgical technique using presoaked vancomycin hamstring grafts to decrease the risk of infection after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether presoaking hamstring graft with a dilute antibiotic solution provides a potential new tool to improve measures to prevent joint infection.

METHODS

This is a retrospective analysis of data that were prospectively collected for 1,135 consecutive patients who underwent anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) during a 7-year period. In the initial 3-year period, 285 patients (group 1) underwent ACLR with a hamstring autograft with preoperative intravenous (IV) antibiotics. In the subsequent 4-year period, 870 patients underwent ACLR with a vancomycin-presoaked hamstring autograft (group 2) with preoperative IV antibiotics. Presoaking involved wrapping hamstring tendon autografts in a sterile gauze swab, which had been previously saturated with 5-mg/mL vancomycin solution.

RESULTS

In group 1 a total of 4 postoperative joint infections were documented (1.4%). Each case showed increasing pain and effusion, as well as a high intra-articular white blood cell count and increased C-reactive protein level. Of the 4 infected cases, 3 cultured coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (Staphylococcus epidermidis). The fourth case was treated as a postoperative infection despite a negative culture and responded to arthroscopic washout and IV antibiotics. In group 2 no infections (0%) were recorded, and no investigatory washouts occurred. The difference was statistically significant. Known failures were similar in each group.

CONCLUSIONS

Prophylactic vancomycin presoaking of hamstring autografts statistically reduced the infection rate in this series compared with IV antibiotics alone.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, therapeutic case series.