Arthroscopic débridement has similar 30-day complications compared with open arthrotomy for the treatment of native shoulder septic arthritis: a population-based study.

HYPOTHESIS: This study aimed to determine whether there are significant differences in 30-day perioperative complications between arthroscopic and open débridement (irrigation and débridement [I&D]) for septic arthritis (SA) of the shoulder using the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database.

METHODS

Patients undergoing arthroscopic or open I&D of the native shoulder from 2006-2016 were identified in the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database. Those with a diagnosis of SA were included in the study. Patients with a concurrent diagnosis of osteomyelitis around shoulder (n = 25) or polyarthritis (n = 2) were excluded from the study. Patient demographics, comorbidities, and complications were compared between the groups. Poisson regression, which controlled for age and American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score, was used to calculate the relative risks with 95% confidence intervals for minor adverse events, serious adverse events, total adverse events, and unplanned reoperations between the 2 treatment groups, with significance set at P < .0125 after Bonferroni correction.

RESULTS

Overall, 147 and 57 patients underwent arthroscopic and open I&D, respectively, for SA of the shoulder. Patients in the open I&D group were more likely to be smokers (P = .0213), whereas patients in the arthroscopy group had higher ASA scores (P = .0008). After controlling for age and ASA score, we found no significant differences in the risk of minor adverse events (P = .0995), serious adverse events (P = .2241), total adverse events (P = .1871), or unplanned reoperations (P = .3855).

CONCLUSION

Arthroscopic débridement appears to be a safe alternative to open débridement for SA of the native shoulder. The incidence and risk of 30-day perioperative complications are similar after arthroscopic and open I&D for SA of the shoulder.