Prevention of Cutibacterium acnes infection in arthroscopic shoulder surgery: a systematic review

Cutibacterium acnes is a gram-positive anaerobe that can lead to postoperative shoulder infections. The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of C acnes infections following shoulder arthroscopy and evaluate the efficacy of perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis in the prevention of these infections.

A systematic review was performed by searching PubMed, the Cochrane Library, and Embase to identify studies that evaluated the prevalence and clinical indications of C acnes infections after various arthroscopic shoulder surgical procedures. Patients were assessed based on positive culture rates, the contraction of infection, and antibiotic regimens used to prevent infection.

A total of 9 studies (1 level I, 5 level II, 1 level III, and 2 level IV) met the inclusion criteria, including a total of 3758 patients with a mean age of 59.9 years (range, 17-87 years) at the time of surgery. The mean follow-up time was 1.6 months (range, 1.0-12.0 months). Overall, 37.3% of patients (173 of 464) had positive C acnes skin and/or joint culture results, and in 0.22% of patients (8 of 3586), a C acnes infection was diagnosed postoperatively. The application of a topical benzoyl peroxide antibiotic in the days leading up to surgery significantly reduced the positive culture rate from 41.6% to 9.6% (P < .001).

C acnes infections occur at a very low rate (0.22%) following shoulder arthroscopy. The application of a topical benzoyl peroxide antibiotic in the days leading up to surgery in combination with preoperative antibiotic prophylaxis significantly reduces the prevalence of C acnes in shoulder arthroscopy patients.