Acl Case Study

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Response/Recommendation: Infection following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) is not a surgical emergency in most cases. Timely urgent surgical treatment is essential, but timing itself is not clearly defined in the literature for treatment of infection following ACLR. Most authors do agree that surgical intervention should take place without delay, on a prompt basis, or on the same day as the clinical presentation of an ACLR infection.

A protocol for patient optimization prior to surgery has not been clearly established. Optimization of information leading to surgery is important to assist in the surgical treatment. Clinical examination and aspiration of the knee joint is recognized as the first step in diagnosis at initial patient presentation with a suspected post-operative ACLR infection. It is also generally reported that broad-spectrum antibiotics, preferably cephalosporins should be started as soon as possible after aspirations are taken. Antibiotic therapy should be modified as soon as culture results identify the pathogen. Blood tests for infectious and inflammatory markers …show more content…

state that the surgery should be performed on the day of admission.19 Mouzopoulos et al. state that the infection should be treated without delay.20 Wang et al. report a summary of various authors by stating a recommendation for immediate operative treatment.21 Torres et al. also report that the generally accepted treatment is “arthroscopic lavage, performed as soon as possible”.22 It is known that articular cartilage degrades and loses nearly half of its glycosaminoglycan and collagen composition in the first week of a joint infection23,24. Therefore, a significant delay should not be experienced in the initiation of surgical

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