Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Risk factors for infection after dog knee surgery (TPLO)
By Lopez, Daniel J et al.·Published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association·2018·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Retrospective study of factors associated with surgical site infection in dogs following tibial plateau leveling osteotomy.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs that had surgery to fix their knee (tibial plateau leveling osteotomy, or TPLO) were monitored for infections at the surgery site. Out of 405 surgeries, 34 dogs developed infections, which is about 8.4%. The study found that German Shepherds, dogs that had a specific knee procedure called meniscectomy, and those operated on by less experienced surgeons were more likely to get infections. While some dogs had skin issues (dermatitis) at the time of surgery, this did not significantly increase the risk of infection.
People also search for: dog knee surgery infection · German Shepherd TPLO recovery · meniscectomy complications in dogs
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To identify risk factors associated with surgical site infection (SSI) in dogs following tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO). DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. ANIMALS 320 dogs that underwent unilateral or bilateral TPLO (n = 405 procedures) between 2007 and 2015 and were reexamined by a veterinarian at least once ≥ 8 weeks after the procedure. PROCEDURES Data were extracted from medical records regarding signalment, TPLO procedure details, medical history of dermatitis, and SSI status. Logistic regression was performed to identify factors associated with SSI development. RESULTS An SSI developed following 34 (8.4%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 6.1% to 11.5%) procedures. Prophylactic antimicrobial administration was provided following 36.8% (n = 149) of procedures. For 71 (17.5%) procedures, the dog had dermatitis at the time of surgery; 12 of these procedures involved dermatitis at the surgical site. The incidence of SSI following the 12 procedures for dogs with dermatitis at the surgical site was 16.7% (2/12 [95% CI, 3.3% to 54.3%]) and was 10.2% (6/59 [95% CI, 4.5% to 21.3%]) for dogs with dermatitis elsewhere; however, these differences in incidence were not significant. On multivariable analysis, German Shepherd Dogs (vs other breeds), meniscectomy (vs no meniscectomy), and attending surgeon having performed ≤ 20 (vs > 20) procedures during the study period were associated with increased odds of SSI. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE SSI following TPLO was associated with the German Shepherd breed, meniscectomy, and surgeon. Prospective studies are needed to investigate the mechanisms underlying these associations.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30019998/