Perioperative steroid injection in elbow arthroscopy.

Area of Science:

• Orthopedic Surgery
• Infectious Disease Prevention

Background:

• Elbow arthroscopy is a common orthopedic procedure.
• The use of perioperative corticosteroid injections aims to reduce inflammation but raises concerns about infection risk.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the incidence of infection following intra-articular corticosteroid injections administered during elbow arthroscopy.
• To determine if these injections increase the risk of post-operative infection.

Main Methods:

• Prospective study including 100 patients undergoing 108 elbow arthroscopies from May 2019.
• All patients received intravenous antibiotics preoperatively and corticosteroid injections post-procedure.
• Exclusion criteria included ligamentous repair and patients under 18 years old; follow-up was 3 months.

Main Results:

• A total of 108 elbow arthroscopies were performed on 100 patients.
• One minor complication (seroma) occurred, resolving spontaneously without antibiotics.
• No major complications or infections directly related to the corticosteroid injection were observed.

Conclusions:

• Perioperative intra-articular corticosteroid injections following elbow arthroscopy do not appear to elevate the risk of infection.
• The findings suggest that this injection method is safe in the context of elbow arthroscopy for the studied patient group.