Cutaneous burns from a fiberoptic cable tip during arthroscopy of the knee.

Thermal skin injury is a rare complication of arthroscopy. The potential of fiberoptic light cable tips to cause cutaneous burns has been previously investigated, but no cases have been reported. We present a case report of such an injury. In order to improve patient safety, we further recommend always checking that the light source is set on standby prior to disconnecting the light cable from the arthroscope and that the light cable tip is never left on the patient when not in use.