Bacterial contamination of irrigation fluid and suture material during ACL reconstruction and meniscus surgery : Low infection rate despite increasing contamination over surgery time.

Purpose: During knee arthroscopy, irrigation fluid from the surgical site accumulates in the sterile reservoir. Whether these fluid collections and also suture material used during the arthroscopic surgical processes show bacterial contamination over time during surgery remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to determine this contamination rate and to analyze its possible influence on postoperative infection.