Chronic Tibial Tunnel Infection Following ACL Reconstruction: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Introduction: Rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is a common injury in active people and one of the most common knee injuries in sports. Foreign body granuloma with concomitant infection is a rare complication in ACL surgery. Very few cases have been reported on it. We present a young patient with a chronic discharging sinus at a surgical site on the tibia in a diabetic patient and its successful management. Case Report: A thirty-two-year-old male presented to us with a persistent discharging sinus at the surgical site following an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) reconstruction two years back. Since then, he developed wound infection at the incision site created for graft harvesting, which kept on discharging sero-purulent discharge even with several antibiotics and local dressing courses. There was no stiffness or instability in the knee. We did a follow-up arthroscopic evaluation of the joint and debridement of the wound. A portion of hamstring graft and non-absorbable suture with unhealthy granulation tissues were found subcutaneously during the surgery. A partially resorbed bioscrew with unhealthy granulation tissue was observed in the tibial tunnel. After thorough debridement of the site, the wound completely healed. Conclusion: Surgical site infection and foreign body granuloma should be considered and treated accordingly if the patient presents with persistent discharging sinus at the surgical site in ACL reconstruction Keywords: Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, ACL, Surgical site infection, Tibial tunnel.