Little benefit of surgical anchor and suture removal and of antibiotic therapy beyond 6 weeks in infected rotator cuff repair

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the benefit of surgical anchor and/or suture removal and prolonged antibiotic therapy in acute and chronic infections of rotator cuff repair (RCIs). A single-center cohort and case-control study (Cox regression) was performed. Outcome variables were remission of infection and postinfection reoperations due to failed tendon healing for mechanical causes. All analyses were performed with an emphasis on anchor and suture retention or removal. We identified 54 primary RCIs (44 men; median age 54 years) that were surgically revised (10 by open débridement and 44 by arthroscopy). Twenty-eight (52%) were not intact on revision surgery (débridement) - 10 were partially and 18 totally re-ruptured. The median number of surgical revisions was 1 (range, 1-3), and the median duration of postsurgical antibiotic therapy was 75 days. After a minimal follow-up of 2 years, 8 infections (8/54, 15%) recurred. Twenty patients needed a revision surgery; in all of those 20 patients, intraoperative samples were negative for infection. By multivariate analysis, anchor removal at the first revision influenced neither remission (hazard ratio [HR] 0.9, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.4-2.0)nor the need for later revision surgery due to mechanical sequelae (HR 0.6, 95% CI 0.1-1.4). The corresponding HRs for suture removal were 0.9(95% CI 0.4-1.7) and 0.4(95% CI 0.1-1.2). Likewise, the numbers of revision surgery (HR 0.5, 95% CI 0.2-1.3) and antibiotics beyond 6 weeks failed to influence remission (HR 1.1, 95% CI 0.4-3.1). In our RCI cohort, the removal of anchors or sutures, repeated revision surgery, or an antibiotic therapy beyond 6 weeksfailed to improve remission or to reduce sequelae.