An analysis of complications in lateral retinacular release procedures.

Complications were reviewed for 446 lateral retinacular release procedures performed by 21 arthroscopic surgeons in various centers. There were 32 complications among the 446 procedures. The overall complication rate for lateral retinacular release was 7.2%. Information obtained from each individual surgeon in the study allowed scrutiny of various surgical techniques as they related to complications in lateral retinacular release procedures. Higher complication rates were noted with tourniquet use (p = 0.037), in arthroscopically controlled subcutaneous technique (p = 0.057), and most significantly, in the use of a postoperative suction drain for 24 h or longer (p less than 0.001). Electrocautery use did not affect the complication rate (p = 0.50). Outpatient procedures had no higher complication rate than inpatient procedures (p = 0.95).