• John W Belk, Matthew J Kraeutler, John R Smith, Connor P Littlefield, Jonathan T Bravman, Darby A Houck, Anthony J Scillia, and Eric C McCarty.
• Department of Orthopaedics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA. Electronic address: wilson.belk716@gmail.com.
• J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 2020 May 1; 29 (5): 867-873.

BackgroundCutibacterium 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.MethodsA 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.ResultsA 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).ConclusionsC 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.Copyright © 2020 Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery Board of Trustees. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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