Increasing Patient Age, Ambulatory Surgery Center Setting, and Surgeon Experience Are Associated With Shorter Operative Duration for Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

PURPOSE: To identify variables associated with operative duration and intraoperative or perioperative complications after primary anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). METHODS: Surgeons who performed a minimum of 20 arthroscopic cases per month were recruited for participation through the Arthroscopy Association of North America from 2011 through 2013. All participants agreed to voluntarily submit data for 6 months of consecutive knee and shoulder arthroscopy cases. Only subjects coded for ACLR were analyzed, whereas revision cases were excluded. ACLRs were subdivided into isolated ACLR, ACLR with minor concomitant procedures, and ACLR with major concomitant procedures. Patient, surgeon, and surgical variables were analyzed for their effect on operative duration and complications. RESULTS: One hundred thirty-five orthopaedic surgeons participated, providing 1,180 primary ACLRs (399 isolated ACLRs, 441 ACLRs plus minor procedures, and 340 ACLRs plus major procedures). Most surgeons were in private practice (72.8%). Most patients were male patients (58.8%), and the mean body mass index (BMI) was 26.2 ± 5.1. The overall mean operative duration was 95.9 ± 42.0 minutes (isolated ACLRs, 88.4 ± 36.8 minutes; ACLRs plus minor concomitant procedures, 90.1 ± 37.6 minutes; and ACLRs plus major concomitant procedures, 118.5 ± 112.4 minutes; P < .001). Patient age was inversely correlated with operative duration (ρ = –0.221, P < .001). Surgical procedures performed in an ambulatory surgery center had a shorter mean operative duration (91.5 ± 40.4 minutes) compared with those performed in a hospital setting (105.0 ± 43.8 minutes, P < .001). There were 22 intraoperative and 47 early postoperative complications, with the most common being deep vein thrombosis (n = 15). Surgical volume (knee arthroscopy cases per month) correlated inversely with operative time (ρ = –0.200, P = .001) and complication rate (ρ = –0.112, P < .001). Patient BMI was associated with increased odds of early postoperative complications on multivariate analysis (odds ratio, 1.060; P = .044; 95% confidence interval, 1.002-1.121). CONCLUSIONS: Increasing patient age, private practice, ambulatory surgery center setting, and surgeon experience are associated with a shorter operative duration for ACLR. Although an increasing number of arthroscopic knee procedures performed by surgeons correlated with fewer complications, only increasing patient BMI significantly predicted odds of complications. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, prognostic case series.