['Superficial wound infections do not lead to chronic prosthetic joint infection. Therefore, it has been hypothesized that a superficial infection of a surgical wound following a successfully treated TKA does not lead to a lower functional outcome at long-term follow-up. This may be due to early diagnosis and proper treatment without interrupting the rehabilitation programme. The purpose of this study was to support the hypothesis by comparing the functional outcome and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of superficial infections treated successfully after primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA).', 'In a 3000 prospective TKA cohort, 45 superficial infections were compared to a control group of 629 TKA without complications. The functional outcome, health quality, expectations and revision rate were compared between the study and control groups.', 'The groups were comparable in terms of demographic values and preoperative scores. The mean follow-up was 74.57\xa0months (SD\xa0±\xa07.1). No statistical differences were observed relative to functional outcomes at the final follow-up as measured with the Knee Society Score (156.9 vs 168.4; n.s) and range of motion (0.2-114.4 vs 0.7-112.3; n.s). For the HRQoL, no differences in the physical (40.0 vs 40.6; n.s) and mental (43.2 vs 45.8; n.s) SF-36 scores were found. Neither were there differences in post-operative expectations and the revision rate.'] Does superficial wound infection cause inferior clinical outcome after TKA?