Early postoperative fluoroquinolone use is associated with an increased revision rate after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair

Purpose: To evaluate the association of postoperative fluoroquinolone use following arthroscopic primary rotator cuff repair with failure requiring revision rotator cuff repair. Methods: An insurance database was queried for patients undergoing rotator cuff repair from 2007 to 2015. These patients were divided into three groups: (1) patients prescribed fluoroquinolones within 6 months postoperatively (divided into 0–2, 2–4, and 4–6 months), (2) a matched negative control cohort of patients not prescribed fluoroquinolones, and (3) a matched positive control cohort of patients prescribed fluoroquinolones between 6 and 18 months following rotator cuff repair. Rates of failure requiring revision rotator cuff repair were compared within 2 years. Results: A total of 1292 patients were prescribed fluoroquinolones within 6 months after rotator cuff repair, including 442 within 2 months, 433 within 2 to 4 months, and 417 within 4 to 6 months, and were compared to 5225 matched negative controls and 1597 matched positive controls. The rate of revision rotator cuff repair was significantly higher in patients prescribed fluoroquinolones within 2 months (6.1 %) compared to matched negative (2.2 %, P = 0.0009) and positive controls (2.4 %, P = 0.0026). There were no significant differences in the rate of revision rotator cuff repair when fluoroquinolones were prescribed >2 months after rotator cuff repair. Conclusions: Early use of fluoroquinolones following rotator cuff repair was independently associated with significantly increased rates of failure requiring revision rotator cuff repair. This is the first clinical study examining the association of postoperative fluoroquinolone use with failure following arthroscopic rotator cuff repair. Level of evidence: III.