How high is the statistical risk of infection after outpatient arthroscopy?. Evaluation of over 50,000 cases from statistics of the Professional Society for Outpatient Arthroscopy (BVASK)

Since 2001 the Professional Society for Outpatient Arthroscopy (BVASK e.V.) has implemented the Qualis (R) system for quality management and documentation. It was the aim of this study to evaluate the infection rate following outpatient arthroscopy based on the data pool provided by Qualis (R). Between 01.01.2001 and 01.01.2008, a total of 51,079 arthroscopic interventions have been performed and documented by 66 surgical centres and 25,619 postoperative patient questionnaires (50.2%) could be included in this study evaluation. A total infection rate of 0.13% (33 patients) was found. The knee joint was involved in 25 cases (0.12%) and the shoulder joint in 8 cases (0.21%). In six of the infected knee joints ACL reconstruction had been performed, representing an infection rate of 0.6% for this special type of surgery. Males were predominantly affected. Previous operations were identified as a further risk factor for infection. The estimated infection rate appears to be low when compared to the international literature. The Qualis (R) system represents a powerful tool for documentation and external quality management in outpatient arthroscopic surgery.